Danganronpa Airlines: First Class Despair
by A-SHSL-Revival-All-In-My-Head
Summary: In the beginnings of the Tragedy, Hope's Peak Academy has selected a handful number of classes to escape the mayhem by the former Ultimate Pilots. Little did they know that one special plane has been hijacked by a hidden Remnant of Despair & has taken a detour from the original escape route. "This is your Captain Monokuma speaking, buckle up kiddos it's going to be a bumpy flight!"
1. Chapter Zero: Prologue

**Chapter Zero** **:** Prologue

 _Sacrifice :_ _The act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to get or do something else or to help someone._

 _Everyday, human beings must sacrifice a part of themselves in order to accomplish a goal, whether that achievement is as minor as lending a pencil to a fellow student or a bit of our sanity to protect our loved ones. I guess you could say that naturally we perform these altruistic behaviors to help one another. But why? What's the true reasoning behind these actions? Is it because of love? Selfishness? Desire? To be honest, every sacrificial movement is prompted by the impulsive need to protect. Nobody questions a parent when they place themselves in danger for their child or a citizen enlisting to serve their country during war. Why? Because, we, as human beings believe in having a purpose to protect our values. But...exactly how far would we go to achieve that?_

* * *

A crackle of lightning echoes throughout the night sky as the commotion wakes the young person from comfortable slumber. Emerald eyes shot open to the sight of a brightly-tropical aquarium, with various fish swimming around, sitting on top of a snow-colored dresser a couple feet from the bed. Gripping the matching bedsheet, the person sits themselves up to scan the seemingly small living space.

A monitor is attached to the cream-colored wall above the aquarium, turned off at the moment.

Glancing over to their right, they notice the exit of the space being a sleek silver sliding door with a white handle on its side and a golden lock.

Nearing the bed on its right, is a closet door leading to a space filled of clothing for different occasions.

Drowsily rubbing their eyes, the person spots a shimmering object on the nightstand. They softly rub the engraving of the golden, now visible badge in their hands with a thumb and mutter, "I went from protecting the streets of Hiroshima to here…"

Turning to their left, they notice a small opening underneath what seems to be a shutter of sorts.

Emerald eyes widen when the person reaches the handle as the shutters recline back up to reveal a sight of the night sky fulfilled with several lambent lights from below.

There is a quote that goes by the saying, "Stars can't shine without darkness".

This person suddenly realizes they're closer to reaching the stars than originally thought.

* * *

 **Hey guys! I've been in a lot of Danganronpa SYOCs on here, and I like this idea of the story here, so I figured why not give this a shot? Yes, I know this intro/prologue is extremely short for my taste but I promise the actual chapters will be longer! I hope you guys enjoyed this quick little intro and if interested in sending in an OC, be sure to check out the rules and application! Plus, it's my first time doing a SYOC so this should be really interesting...**

 **Rules:**

As always, no Mary Sues or Gary Sues! AKA: There's no such thing as a perfect character with no flaws whatsoever! I mean, realistically nobody is flawless so let's reflect that on our characters okay? If you do send one in, I can guarantee you they have a really low chance in getting accepted...Plus, the more diverse the cast is personality-wise the better!

I prefer if you send applications via PM! I'm more likely to choose people who send through PM because if you review your character's backstory and secrets publicly on reviews, it kinda spoils their arc for everyone doesn't it? So, how about we keep it between us?

As for nationality, I'm letting you guys have the freedom of your character coming from any country! I'll list the nationalities I get because it'll be really nice to have such a diverse cast ranging from let's say America or Cambodia etc instead of having everyone from Japan y'know?

I won't accept canon talents that are already used in the DR universe (excluding NDRV3 since that hasn't happened yet) or Ultimate Despair or Reserve Student or Ultimate ?...But Ultimate Lucky Student is available! Let's be creative with our talents guys! Also, only one talent per character. I'll also post the talents that have been submitted so we don't accidentally run into multiple OCs with the same talent.

You can submit multiple characters but only one will be accepted. Speaking of submitting multiple characters, I really prefer if you make an original OC specifically for this story but I wouldn't mind if they came from another story. But, if you're going to do that then I hope you're really confident on how great they are because they're going to be held to a higher standard if I spot them.

Finally, this will not be a first come first serve kind of thing since I really want you guys to spend time on your OCs. Basically, if I can tell you made your OC in 5 minutes or less, yeah no you're most likely not getting accepted...Since I'm awkwardly posting this on Thursday night, **the deadline for when applications close is in two weeks which specifically is November 25th.** I will post the **official class roster on November 26th** along with the first half or quarter of the introductions.

* * *

 **~Danganronpa Airlines: First Class Despair Submission Form~**

 _* = Optional_

 **~ General ~**

 **Name:** (Western order with first name, last name) **  
**

 _* Nickname(s):_

 **Age:** (17-18 is the age range but if older than, you need to provide some justification)

 **Birthday:** (Month and Day)

 **Gender:** (Female, male, intersex, non binary, etc basically anything can go! If the character has a preferred pronoun, please tell me! Also, I'll make a list of the number of submitted gender so we could see where we're at.)

 **SHSL Talent:**

 **Nationality:** (Basically what country do they come from, also remember they can come from any country but do some research as well!)

 **Race:**

 **Sexual Orientation:** (Just like for gender, anything can go! Straight, gay, lesbian, pansexual, asexual, etc can go here! But, if it's something that I might not know from it being not common, be sure to expand on explaining it a bit so I can be educated on it.)

 _* Health Problem(s):_ (Do they have a terminal illness? Bad eyesight and needs to wear glasses or contacts? Just any type of health issue in general)

 **Blood Type:**

 **~ Appearance ~**

 **Height:**

 **Weight:**

 **Build:** (Are they average build? Muscular giant? Athletic toned with broad shoulders? That kind of things! The more descriptive the better…)

 **Eye Color:** (Try to stray away from heterochromia because there's only so many people that could actually inherit this and I'll probably accept only one character with this.)

 **Hair Color & Style:** (This includes length as well)

 **Skin Complexion:**

 _* Any physical scars or markings?:_ (This could be actual scars or loss of limb or tattoos or birthmarks, etc)

 **Casual/Daily Clothing:** (This is the clothing your character will be wearing majority of the time. Try to make this descriptive by making the clothing match either their talent and/or their personality, I mean wouldn't it be pretty boring if everyone wore a t-shirt and jeans?)

 _* Formal Clothing:_

 _* Swimwear:_

 _* Sleepwear:_

 _* Accessories:_ (This includes prescriptive glasses if needed)

 **~ Personality ~**

 **Brief Description of Personality:** (This will appear in their e-Passports with the DR character's description. Let's keep this around 3-4 sentences!) **  
**

 **Extended Personality:** (This along with backstory definitely needs to be the most detailed on this application. I'm more likely to pick someone who writes this out in paragraph format versus listing adjectives. Remember, nobody is perfect!)

 **Likes:** (Minimum is 5 and maximum is 10)

 **Dislikes:** (Minimum is 5 and maximum is 10)

 _* Confidence:_ (How confident are they? Are they the type to be proud of their image or rarely keeps eye contact with you?)

 **Fear(s):**

 _* Attitude & Perception:_ (How do they view the world in general? Are they optimistic that everything will get better or looks at the negative side of things?

 **Strengths:** (This is for physical and mental strengths that would work for their advantage in this type of situation. Let's do three to five things here.)

 **Weaknesses:** (This is for physical and mental weaknesses that would serve as a problem to them in this type of situation. Let's do three to five things here.)

 **Secret(s):**

 _* Habits/Quirks/Tendencies:_

 **~ History ~**

 **Backstory:** (What happened in this character's life that led them to being the SHSL of their talent and having their current personality? You can make a list of the highlights of their life or paragraph format, anything can go for how it's presented but just make sure it's detailed!)

 **Family:** (Basically short descriptions of their family members that are important and current status)

 _* Friends:_ (Basically short descriptions of their friends that are important and current status)

 **~ Danganronpa ~**

 **Reaction to Killing Game:** **  
**

 **Reaction to Discovery of Corpse:**

 **Reaction to Being Accused (While Innocent):**

 **Reaction to Being Accused (While Guilty):**

 **Reaction to an Execution:**

 **Role in Investigation (While Innocent):** (Obviously we can't have everybody be a Kirigiri when it comes to investigating!)

 **Role in Investigation (While Guilty):**

 **Role in Trial (While Innocent):**

 **Role in Trial (While Guilty):**

 **Motive(s) to Kill:** (Everybody has at least one thing that would crack them...What is it for your character? At least one motive here, but of course the more the despairingly better.)

 **Execution:** (Even if your character ends up being a survivor, everyone is still required to have an idea of an execution. Just a brief description of how it probably would happen will do.)

 _* Typical First Impression:_ (If a newcomer were to meet them, how would they come off as?)

 **Type of people they would get along with:**

 **Type of people they wouldn't get along with:**

 **Interested in romance?:** (Yes or no answer here)

 _* If yes, what kind of people would they fall for?:_

 **~ Voice ~**

 **Quotes:** (At least 5 but no more than 10, can include their introduction and reactions) **  
**

 _* Agreement Quote:_ (Example quotes of them agreeing with something)

 _* Disagreement Quote:_ (Example quotes of them highly disagreeing with something)

 _* Give Up Quote:_ (Example quotes of them giving up on something whether it's dealing with a stubborn classmate or after being found guilty)

 **Speech Pattern:** (Does your character have a certain accent while speaking? Extremely formal? Do they have a clean or a vulgar sailor mouth? Any stutters? Etc...)

 **Voice Tone:** (Do they have a seductive sultry voice? A gruff voice? A very high-pitch squeaky voice? Etc…)

 **~ Other ~**

 _* Other:_ (Is there anything else I should know about your character that hasn't been covered?) **  
**

* * *

 **~ Submitted Talents ~**

SHSL Police Officer (my OC)

SHSL Beautiful Dancer

SHSL Oboist

SHSL Youtaite

SHSL Astronomer

SHSL Violinist

SHSL Children's Book Author

SHSL Thief

SHSL Charmer

SHSL Occult Researcher

SHSL Artist

SHSL Massage Therapist

SHSL Lookout

SHSL Classical Musician

SHSL Surfer

SHSL Medical Examiner

SHSL Radio Host

SHSL Variety Queen

SHSL Comedian

SHSL Surgeon

SHSL Basketball Player

SHSL Hacker

SHSL Fighter

SHSL Figure Skater

SHSL King

SHSL Tracker

SHSL Cartographer

SHSL Beta Tester

SHSL Logician

SHSL Tea Brewer

SHSL Kunoichi

SHSL Observer

SHSL Brista

SHSL Roller Blader

SHSL Electricist

SHSL Weapon Designer

 **~ Submitted Genders ~**

 **Female: 17**

 **Male: 18**

 **Non binary: 1**

 **~ Submitted Nationalities ~**

 **Japanese: x13**

 **South Korean: x1**

 **Shanivaarian: x1**

 **French: x3**

 **Scottish: x3**

 **Caribbean: x1**

 **German: x1**

 **American: x5**

 **Italian: x1**

 **Samoan: x1**

 **Norwegian: x1**

 **Canadian: x1**

 **English: x3**

 **Singaporean: x1**


	2. Chapter Zero: Prologue II

**Chapter Zero** **:** Prologue II

 _Integrity : The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness._

 _Everyday, human beings are characterized by what their definition of morality is. For some, it is a simple act out of kindness to help another person out. For others, it is an act of "survival of the fittest" following the theory of Darwinism for natural selection. If we are truly desperate for survival, does integrity even matter anymore? In a fight to live for another day, does the good truly outweigh the bad when it comes to desire and desperation? In a sense, having integrity restricts us in doing certain actions or perhaps hesitate in doing so. Is the action you're performing truly necessary? Would your inner moral compass agree with what you just did or said? Those are the two questions we tend to mentally ask ourselves if we question during the moment of breaking the moral barrier. Integrity is a trait that is earned through learning, not as something we were naturally born with. So, how do we gain integrity since it is not a given? We stand strong with our values and we fight for what we truly believe is right._

* * *

A recently emptied shot glass is slammed down onto the coaster as its owner lets out a huff in frustration.

"Jin, you need to slow down buddy. You know you're bad when _I_ have to tell you to stop", Koichi Kizakura casts a concerned glance at his friend as he snatched the silver-flask out of the headmaster's shaking hand.

"I know, I know...It's just...how did this happen? Everything's a mess. First the two student murders, then the student council massacre, and now we have the reserve course students rioting. Sometimes I feel like the title of headmaster is just for show because I don't even know who's running the school anymore", Jin Kirigiri takes a seat next to the school's talent scout and runs a hand through his dark hair.

"So what are you going to do now? Things are bound to get worse before even slightly becoming better", the recruiter places a thumb under his chin, lightly stroking his thin goatee with a pondering expression.

"You're right. It's still our duty as educators to provide a secure environment for the students and take care of them during the hard times. There has to be some way to continue educating the students along with keeping them safe from harm," Jin sighs.

Jin Kirigiri's attention is caught by the sun's rays illuminating a shine on a piece of glass on his desk. He walks towards it and picks up the object.

The glass frame holding a picture of himself lifting a smiling lavender-haired little girl in the air at a park reminded the man of the past when it was a peaceful and simple life.

Jin Kirigiri knew he had to advance his students' lives one way or another, for the sake of preserving their futures.

Two weeks has passed ever since Jin Kirigiri's and Koichi Kizakura's discussion on recent events in the headmaster's office.

The purple-eyed man is seen speaking with a group of graduates wearing their signature beige aviator jackets while standing at attention in the landing strip of an abandoned airport hangar.

"You guys are all part of the finest pilots in the world with your title as Ultimate Pilot being passed through generations of Hope's Peak Academy graduates. I have a special mission for all of you," he slowly paces back and forth in front of the pilots and continues, "I need each and every one of you to fly the following selected classes to these coordinates marked here," Jin passes each pilot a sheet of paper with the names of the students in a chosen class on the front side. On the back side is a map with the listed coordinates and drawn route to reach the location.

A young brunette with black tinted sunglasses covering her oceanic colored eyes raises a hand, "Sir, if you don't mind me asking, but how exactly did you choose which classes are being transported?"

"By the results of last year's annual practical exam, I've selected the top five classes with the highest average scores to participate in this transfer to the new Hope's Peak Academy in this location to continue and finish their education."

The girl scoffed in disbelief, "But...but that isn't fair! Shouldn't we try to transport everybody? We shouldn't punish everyone else by leaving them here to die! How were they supposed to know they were getting tested not only to stay in school but to determine who survives?"

The man stops in his tracks to face the brunette with understandable eyes and chuckles, "Always been the one to speak your mind, Miss Ayumi Tsukiyama. Some things never change even after you graduated with the 74th class...But I can reassure you that we're not punishing anyone. At the moment, those classes is our priority in making sure they make it to safety to the new school and shelter on that island. Remember, there's only five of you guys and we can't spare to lose any of you during this mission. With the distance being traveled, it'll take a while to fly those five classes in general. Once they all make it to the island, I'll contact you with additional information. I trust you all to treat this special mission as you usually treat your careers, you are all dismissed. Now if you excuse me, I have to get to the 78th class's interviews."

Jin Kirigiri makes his exit out of the hanger, leaving the former graduates staring at each other quizzically.

Ayumi pushes her sunglasses to rest on top of her head and glance around at the other four pilots, "You really think this plan is going to work?"

A young man with dark-blue spiky hair and the name "Masaki Takara" in white ink on his aviator jacket steps forward, "Well it's not our fucking place to question Kirigiri when he's the headmaster and knows what's best for the school. Besides, these kids must be pretty damn special to be considered as a priority mission."

The brunette glances down at her list of transport students, furrowing her eyebrows in thought, "Hey I think this one is familiar...Ultimate Police Officer? Wait, isn't that the girl that was involved with the-"

"Yeah, yeah, whoopie-fucking-do Tsukiyama of course you get the actual interesting kids while mine are all squeaky-clean lame asses", Masaki remarks causing the girl to roll her eyes before further examining the passenger roster.

Sure, Ayumi Tsukiyama wasn't too sure of agreeing with Headmaster Kirigiri's ideology, but she would push that aside and acting like the Ultimate Pilot she is, the girl places her passengers as priority number one.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Whaaat do you mean you weren't expecting another update so quick? Yeah, I can see where you got that idea because it hasn't even been a full 24 hours since I posted the story, haha. But you know that aspiring writer's adrenaline you sometimes get out of nowhere and you just have to write something or else it'll seemingly go away forever? Yeah, that's me. Right now. Plus I felt the need to make a longer prologue since not only am I waiting for more characters to be submitted but also because I felt like I genuinely cheated you guys out of an actual lengthy prologue chapter!**

 **So, I hope you guys enjoyed this quick update because I'll be posting one or two more prologue chapters to keep you guys interested in this story. Next prologue chapter will most likely be sometime next week because I don't want to accidentally burn myself out of ideas right off the back if that makes any sense? But I know for sure the week of the deadline; which is still in two weeks on November 25th, i will update with another chapter and to remind you guys about the deadline!**

 **If you're a newbie just reading this and interested in this story, be sure to send in an OC! Also speaking of this story, I'm sure you're wondering where the intro monologue is coming from and the answer to that...is my OC! Basically, this is my character's; also the protagonist, thoughts and opinion when it comes to her definition of that certain word. So in a way you're already getting a sense of how her personality is a bit?**

 **Also this reveals a bit more of the premise and how the students end up as passengers in the story. Anyways, have a nice day/night everyone and catch you guys in the next update!**

 **P.S: I adjusted the rules a bit with talents so yes, you can use talents from NDRV3 since in this timeline that hasn't happened yet! Also, I cannot express how important it is to be detailed when it comes to personality and backstory for your characters, please actually take your time with the applications!**


	3. Chapter Zero: Prologue III

**Chapter Zero** **:** Prologue III

 _Grief : Keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss._

 _Everyday human beings suffer through the emotion called grief. It may not be happening to yourself at the moment, but there's always at least one person in the world that's going through grief or a loss. Everybody has to go through the cycle at some point during their life...It's inevitable. Part of the reasoning as to why so many people fear death is because there is no way to prevent it. Sure, everyday a life is being saved by cheating death at the moment, but really we're just postponing the inevitable. It's crazy to imagine how as soon a life is created, another is destroyed right at the second and the surrounding beings are vastly affected by it. Every being has their own way of dealing with a tragic loss mentally. Some follow through the typical five stages of the emotion, first being denial followed by anger, bargaining, depression, to end the show with acceptance. Others may follow the process out of order or if they're stubborn enough, they'll remain at one stage for the rest of their living. Life has a hilarious way in throwing curveballs at us at unexpected times. But, it's up to ourselves to figure out how to deal with the sudden change...Sometimes life just tests our ability to develop and grow from these tragic experiences._

* * *

Ayumi Tsukiyama is seen sitting outside at a local cafe shop, right leg crossing on top of the other, left hand bringing a glass of iced tea to her lips, and a vibrant-yellow highlighter in the alternate hand. A mellow breeze ruffles the auburn colored locks, causing the brunette to run her currently freed left hand through the hair, correcting the parting while blue-eyes scan a piece of paper on the table. Through the golden lens of the aviator's sunglasses, the paper is various highlighted calculations and markings from the Ultimate Pilot. The backside containing the route she's supposed to follow is neatly organized from the girl highlighting the travel path to the final destination, along with the flight's approximate amount of time it would take to fly there. Off to the side in the blank space the drawing of an ocean left, is the pilot's spewed calculations in black ink.

Flipping the page to its front, the pilot's eyes recognizes a yellow circle ring around the words:

 _Super High School Level Police Officer - Akira Nakashima_

Something about that name and title dimly tugs a glimpse of familiarity to the pilot. She couldn't figure out why that name seems to have a connection to herself. Then again the student _is_ a police officer, maybe she has seen the student somewhere in the news being congratulated by apprehending a criminal or saving a life.

No.

It isn't the news...this was a personal connection towards the name.

Ayumi Tsukiyama solemnly swears she will find the answers to these inner questions she has about her and Akira's seemingly faint connection.

The sounds of shouting and vigorous yells echoing nearby pulls the girl back into reality. Ayumi turns her body towards the source of the ruckus and catches the scene of several students blandly dressed in the typical reserve course uniforms outside Hope's Peak Academy's gates. The girls wrinkling their white long-sleeved blouse and ribbon with the wind whooshing their short dark skirts. As for the guys, they're creating creases in their black suits. Some were angry enough to throw their black blazers onto the ground, dirtying the fabric. The protesting students felt that the main course has treated them as inferior as the dirt on their clothes.

All the pilot feels for the average students...is pity.

Ayumi feels a bit guilty that she couldn't find a way to relate to the reserve course kids even if she tried. She was fortunate enough to have been scouted for her superb pilot abilities but, "Are people really that desperate to have the school's name in their life that they were willing to pay expenses to be in the same area as talented people like herself?" Ayumi mentally questions herself.

The pilot tears her eyes away from the sight when a former classmate of hers, dressed in the signature security guard outfit, comes into view to aggressively disparate the rowdy crowd.

"Nice to know Juzo hasn't changed a bit. Once an asshole, always an asshole", Ayumi Tsukiyama mutters before taking a sip of her tea.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Ya girl is back with another (kinda) quick update for the week! Although, I'm only updating today since the rest of the week is going to be crazy busy with a bunch of quizzes from my AP classes along with a couple of exams from my college classes, that's senior year for you, yay...Not gonna lie but I was kinda stuck making this prologue since some hectic things happened recently such as me having to quit my job yesterday due to being tired of being emotionally drained from not being trained properly with a very disorganized management that's all over the place. Like don't even get me started on how bad of an experience I had there!**

 **Anyways haha, back to the story…**

 **DRA:FCD RECAP: So far we learned that the students AKA the passengers are on a plane heading to who knows where. The beginning of the Tragedy is starting to unfold with HPA deciding to have the Ultimate Pilots fly certain classes to an island out of harm's way to continue their education. One of the pilots being Miss Ayumi Tsukiyama of the 74th class in charge of our class's flight, along with seemingly being connected to our protagonist; the SHSL Police Officer, Akira Nakashima, for some reason?**

 **REMINDER: DEADLINE FOR OC APPLICATIONS IS NEXT FRIDAY AKA NOVEMBER 25TH WITH PASSENGER/CAST ROSTER REVEALED ON THE 26TH. Also, I don't want to pressure myself and rush the first chapter to get it uploaded on the 26th when it's the same day I finalize the roster y'know? So, I plan on making the first chapter sometime during the week after the roster is announced!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this prologue update and that everyone has a nice day/night wherever you are, catch you guys in the next update!**


	4. Chapter Zero: Prologue IV

**Chapter Zero** **:** Prologue IV

 _Darkness : Absence or deficiency of light._

 _Everyday human beings tend to have a fear for the nightfall. Why? Because we're afraid of the unknown that we can't predict. Why do we have the mindset of assuming that night-time is the most dangerous time of the day? Perhaps it is because we couldn't see our two hands in the darkness, or maybe there's something more to it...mentally. Without a lightness, darkness cannot exist. It's as black and white as that, nothing more to it, you may say. But then where does the term "shadow" come from? A shadow simply wouldn't appear without the necessity of light and the darkness. Everybody has a shadow within themselves, a "gray area" if you must say. Nobody is a hundred percent good or evil, it's just a fact. That could be a possibility as to why the fear of the unknown prevails. How can we trust the unknown when we can't trust our own actions based on morality? To some, the presence of the unknown is exciting and they perceive it as a new opportunity of life, while others...they're utterly terrified._

* * *

A sleeping figure is seen in a queen-sized bed with a fluffy white pillow and messy brown hair freely covering their face. With a contempt and peaceful slumber expression on their facial features, the person doesn't hear the sound of the bedroom door opening.

Suddenly a _very_ freezing and wet sensation impacts the person's face galvanizes them to the point of causing a thud with the hard wooden floor, bringing down majority of the white comforter along the way.

Aquamarine colored eyes hazily glance upwards to meet the culprit's vibrant, olive pigmented eyes.

The person currently on the floor groans, "Wh-what the hell Chisa…?"

Chisa Yukizome stands a close distance near the now unoccupied bed with an empty, dripping silver bucket in hand. Salient orange hair bounces to the side when she tilts her head and sends an encouraging smile to her friend on the ground, "Rise and shine Tsukiyama-san! Today is a very special day for you!"

"Question, how exactly did you get into my apartment…?" Ayumi Tsukiyama untangles herself from the suffocating sheets and sits up to lean back onto the bed, ignoring the subtle throbbing headache caused by the sudden impact.

The Ultimate Housekeeper shifts the bucket to her left hand as she shakes the right index finger at the pilot, "You know, only rotten oranges carelessly leave their front door unlocked! It's very dangerous to be doing that Tsukiyama-san."

Ayumi fiddles with the silver dog-tag hanging a metallic necklace on top of solid-black fabric, "I'm pretty sure I locked my door _last night"_ , she thinks to herself before actually responding with, "Oh right, it must've slipped my mind when I went out with the guys last night! But why did you do the ice water treatment when it's only…" the girl pauses before checking the digital clock up on the nightstand, "...6:30 A.M?!"

Chisa holds a hand downwards to the pilot and chuckles, "Is it a crime that I wanted to see my friend before she leaves for a trip that'll take god knows how long?"

This causes the brunette to scoff and playfully roll her eyes before accepting the housekeeper's hand to be pulled onto her feet, "Relax Yukizome-san, it's not like you're never going to see me again. In the meantime, since my beauty sleep has been ruined, I believe you owe me breakfast...and a new pillow."

The young teacher lazily places a free hand against her head as a salute to pilot with a small grin as, "Ay ay Captain, one Ultimate breakfast from yours truly coming right up after I clean the mess _you_ made with the bed, of course."

At this point, Ayumi turns to start heading to her bathroom and mutters, "Ultimate Housekeeper? More like ultimate pain in the ass…"

The grinding sound of two knife blades sharpening against each other sent a shiver down the pilot's back when she remembers what her former classmate and friend is _very_ capable of.

"What was that Tsukiyama-san?"

"N-nothing!"

* * *

 **Hey guys! Ya girl is back with what I would consider as a filler prologue chapter (because obviously a pre-despair Chisa friendship is goals) mostly because I wanted to say some things as this would be the last actual prologue chapter before the passenger roster gets announced!**

 **REMINDER: DEADLINE FOR OC APPLICATIONS IS NEXT FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25TH WITH THE FINALIZED ROSTER BEING POSTED ON THE FOLLOWING DAY, THE 26TH.**

 **So what I wanted to say is that as of right now, I'm actually encouraging some "illegal" or criminal type of talents because I can totally see the SHSL Police Officer and the SHSL *insert criminal title* butting heads when it comes to perspectives on things such as morals for sure because morality will be one of the major recurring themes of the story!** **Plus who knows, maybe they might end up being a potential love interest for Akira as well?** **But y'know don't go _too_ overboard with the criminal talents like for example: SHSL Cannibal (The Walking Dead says hi) definitely wouldn't be accepted even if they even had a great personality! **

**Also as for Ayumi, I know TheRoseShadow21 asked about her role in the story and I'm pretty sure the rest of you guys are wondering as well! Without saying any spoilers, Ayumi will have a kinda major role in this story considering she's the pilot of the soon-to-be hijacked plane and she has a past connection with Akira for some reason?**

 **Lastly, I still cannot stress how important it is to be detailed when it comes to the personality and backstory sections for your character! It's kinda hard to fully flesh out a character's story arc when they didn't have much of a story to begin with, y'know? I'm encouraging you guys to use these last 9 days wisely with filling up the applications! Honestly, the more messages I receive from you filling up the 8000 character limit the better and eye catching your character will be! Also just a quick reminder that I routinely update the first prologue chapter with the talents, genders, and nationalities (tbh I can use a little more diversity that isn't from Japan! Not that I mind Japan it's just that it's pretty interesting to have people come other uncommon places as well) that have been submitted!**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this prologue update and that everyone has a nice day/night wherever you are, catch you guys in the next update AKA the Passenger Roster!**

 **P.S: Totally random thing, but I was pretty happy writing this chapter because I recently got my acceptance letters from both colleges I applied to! The struggle is real on picking which one to attend...**

 **P.S.S: Can someone send an application for SHSL Pain in the Ass just for fun? XD**


	5. Chapter Zero: Prologue V

**Chapter Zero** **: ** Prologue V

 _Fate : The will or principle of determining cause by which things in general are believed to come to be as they are or events to happen as they do._

 _Everyday, human beings are in charge of changing their fate according to their actions. Of course, every single one of us has the ultimate fate that ends in death, we're not immortal so the duration of our lives ending in eternal rest makes sense. While that may be at the end of the rope, it's up to us on how we reach there. Perhaps we become reckless and take our sense of longevity for granted, thus briskly arriving at the end sooner than expected. Other moments we may have taken a hold of the safety cord for too long and seemingly have the perception of our sense of time dragging along in slow motion. How crazy is it that the Earth continues to rotate on its axis even when our own physical being is gone? How life and time continues ticking with no indication of stopping or pausing anytime soon? Nobody really considers it, but every action, every word, and every thought we possess can ultimately affect our fate in the end. In a way, life is as equivalent to a map. You're traveling through the stages of life by your growth and development. There is always a route that is expected to follow, but knowing life, that road is never smooth, in fact sometimes a sudden curve or stop will throw you off course. We shouldn't let that setback stomp us, but use it as a guidance to a detour to help become stronger and earn wisdom coincidentally. Basically, we may not have control of the inevitable fate everyone holds, but what do have control over...is how we make the last moments count._

* * *

Ayumi Tsukiyama is seen gleefully guiding Chisa Yukizome through an abandoned airport hangar while explaining various aircraft attributes and history.

"And lastly here's the planes that were created a few months ago! We were actually supposed to use these to improve the commercial airline industry, but Hope's Peak kinda needs them more at the moment...," the pilot knocks on the metallic plating before glancing at her friend with a surprised expression, "...Oh wait! Fun fact, one of your students actually helped create these bad boys. I forgot his name but I remember extremely sharp teeth that, uh, kinda reminded me of a shark and had really, really pink hair."

The brunette was about to run a hand through her hair in thought when she pauses at the sight of a speckle of dark motor oil covering the knuckles. Realizing how unprepared she was by lacking a rag or a simple tissue on herself, the pilot attempts to discreetly wipe her hands on the beige fabric covering the legs; it travels upwards right above her hips, but stops at the interruption by an offering of a white handkerchief from the Ultimate Housekeeper. She accepts the clean material with a sheepish, "Oh thanks" and a slightly flushed face of embarrassment as her friend lets out a chuckle.

"Oh Ayumi-chan, some things never change and by help, you mean Soda?" The pilot rubs the smudges off her hand, seemingly staring to the left of the young teacher in thought.

"Personally, I think sodas are extremely unhealthy, I thought you knew I'm more of a tea and water type of person-" Ayumi catches Chisa looking at her with a raised eyebrow, making the pilot realize her mistake, "...Oh."

"So...Captain Tsukiyama tell me, how are you honestly feeling? You seem more nervous than when we did our first annual exam. Don't tell me, Miss Air Force Graduate is suddenly getting cold feet now?" Yukizome places a supporting hand onto the pilot's umber, leather-clad shoulder. This gesture causes the other girl to briefly dart her oceanic eyes downward onto the concrete ground before glancing back up to Chisa's.

She scoffs, "I'm fine Chisa. It's only a priority mission given by our former headmaster to do an overseas travel to your boyfriend's new construction site, nothing much."

"Oh my, Munakata-san is not my boyfriend!" The subtle smirk on the brunette's lips begins to reveal itself as the housekeeper pouts and retracts her arm in attempt to shield the evidently growing blush on the pale cheeks.

"Munakata? Oh, I don't have a clue on what you're possibly talking about Yukizome-san. I was simply referring to our dear old classmate, Amari-san, the Ultimate _Construction Worker._ But the fact that Kyosuke was the first assumption to pop in mind...note truly taken" Ayumi cannot help but laugh at her friend miserably trying to cover their tracks after falling for her trap.

"You truly are the definition of a rotten orange Ayumi-chan", the young teacher mutters from behind the hands on her face.

The pilot simply manages to stifle a short chuckle before bringing her hands to Chisa's upheld wrists and gently pulls them down to waist-level, offering the girl a sincere smile, "I'm just messing around with ya. You know I don't need my goggles to see that even after all these years you clearly still like the guy! Personally, I don't see what you and Juzo saw in him during our high school years..." Ayumi tilts her head with a small, side-smile, "...but as long as you're happy, I'm happy. So, care to help your friendly Ultimate Pilot with these 'nerves' I apparently have?"

After Chisa repeats the morning's lazy saluting gesture with a signature "Ay ay Captain", Ayumi unzips the aviator jacket; revealing a fitted white tank-top, to pull out a folded piece of paper from a hidden pocket within the beige shearling and hands it to the teacher. Yukizome unfolds the material from its previous squared form and scans the contents...

* * *

 **Passenger Roster for the 76th Class:**

 _ **Pilot - Ayumi Tsukiyama**_

 _1.) Super High School Level Figure Skater - Setsuka Aihara_

 _2.) Super High School Level Violinist - Shiori Beaufort_

 _3.) Super High School Level Logician - Ayano Igarashi_

 _4.) Super High School Level Beta Tester - Kuzuri Inanime_

 _5.) Super High School Level Kunoichi - Hitome Inukai_

 _6.) Super High School Level Radio Host - Kjartan Johannesen_

 _7.) Super High School Level Youtaite - Euterpe Iizuka_

 _8.) Super High School Level Basketball Player - Santiago Lopez_

 _9.) Super High School Level Occult Researcher - Alice Mayfield_

 _10.) Super High School Level Surfer - Etano Meleah_

 _11.) Super High School Level Police Officer - Akira Nakashima_

 _12.) Super High School Level Electricist - Kotarou Nakatsu_

 _13.) Super High School Level Tracker - Keefe Ng Jun Hui_

 _14.) Super High School Level Tea Brewer - Nakai Ocha_

 _15.) Super High School Level Massage Therapist - Vincenzo Russo_

 _16.) Super High School Level Cartographer - September Simon_

 _17.) Super High School Level Surgeon - Eclair Stuart_

 _18.)Super High School Level Classical Musician - Crystelle Valliere_

 _19.) Super High School Level Variety Queen - Sayomi Watanabe_

* * *

The only two sections that catches her attention is the highlighted name of one of the students and the class in general, causing the girl to question, "Why did you highlight Nakashima's name? Also, how did the 76th class get selected after the recent bombing incident…?"

The pilot leans back onto the silver lining, metal of the plane and casually crosses her arms while answering, "Does Akira Nakashima ring any bells to you? I can't put my finger on it, but that name feels extremely familiar to me and I don't know why. I was hoping maybe you might've had her information from the school's student database, considering you're a teacher there? And about the 76th class, Kirigiri said we shouldn't punish the whole class for something those three students did when they still had one of the highest scores from last year's annual exam scores, excluding the recent expelled ones. What were those three kids' talents again?"

"That name doesn't sound familiar to me, sorry," Chisa uncomfortably shifts her weight to the right leg and seemingly dodges the database comment, which fortunately for her, the pilot didn't take notice of the lack of response. The teacher then begins counting with her fingers, "I know one of them was a pharmacist because Tsumiki and her would sometimes brew medicine together...another one was the candy-maker because I believe it was during her exam was when the explosion happened and I think the boy was some kind of blacksmith?"

Ayumi slides her sunglasses back onto the bridge of the nose, golden lens contrasting the blueness of her pupils, "Oh, that's okay, I'm sure I'll figure it out once I meet her on the plane. But talk about a crazy trio! Please don't tell me that the bomb was from a combination of a _special_ diet coke and mentos."

For the remainder of the time, the pilot would guide the housekeeper through the new aircraft model plane, that she will be flying shortly. The brunette grins at the amazement expression on her friend's face when they process how spacious the transportation was and how truly remarkable technological advancement for inventions can be. At the end of the tour, the two girls were found lounging in two of the many luxurious, dark-leather, recliner seats, facing each other while engaging in various conversations. It tends to range from pointless and random what if topics to sincere and promising topics about their upcoming future. Soon enough, the pilot's alarm on the watch sounds off, indicating that it is half an hour till take off and for her friend to return to their teaching job with school starting soon.

"What if you skip school today and go with me to drop off this class? I'm sure it wouldn't take that long to travel anyways", Ayumi attempts to persuade the teacher, only to earn a playful sigh in return.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but last time you said something similar to that, we ended up not going back to class...several times. And we actually got in trouble that one time because you insisted it was senior skip day since it was National Pancake Day and you were craving a pancake party in the dorms!" Chisa slaps the now laughing pilot's knee in their chair, reminiscing the memory.

Ayumi puts her hands in the air in surrender, "Hey, it's not my fault that your goody-two shoes, Mr. Ultimate Student Council President was such a damn buzzkill and ended up snitching on everyone to Kirigiri! God, he seemed to always have a stick up his ass…So, I guess this is goodbye for now?"

"You know, Kyosuke may be a bit stern and authoritative at times, but he really does mean it in good faith", Chisa defends him before continuing, "Sorry, but yeah, I have to go. I mean, what good of a teacher would I be if I decided to skip class if my students couldn't? You should start prepping for your kids while I go tend to mine. Trust me, youth only comes once! It will never return so make the best of it until you are unable to go on! Ayumi-chan, I know you'll take great care of these kids and make this trip memorable."

Ayumi agrees and guides her friend to the exit, where Chisa surprises the pilot with a tight hug before bidding goodbye, promising to catch up with Tsukiyama once she returns from her flight. Once the housekeeper left, Ayumi made her way back to the front of the plane and sits herself in the pilot's seat. With the close distance from the seat and her body to the control panel, she swings her legs onto the top of the headboard, comfortably resting the black-laced boots. The sun illuminate its rays in the clear, blue sky through the window as the pilot pulls back out the paper relating to her personal investigation with one of the students. During this once-over, a red light flashing from above startles the girl, causing the paper to briskly drop from her hands while she turns to place the legs back on the metallic flooring, "That's weird, why is one of the exits opened? Did I close one when Chisa left? Damn it, I can't remember", Ayumi shrugs before tapping a button labeled "Close Exits" and shifts back into her seat, "Oh well, might as well close it now to prevent outside air from coming in."

At the thriving age of twenty-one, Ayumi Tsukiyama first-handily experienced a non-simulated stealth attack for the first time.

Everything else that happened after that god forsaken moment, every sense moved in slow motion for Ayumi Tsukiyama.

The sound of approaching footsteps on the metallic surface softly echoes throughout the seemingly occupied aircraft. The pilot's anger rises in annoyance from knowing her adaptive ears have failed her in timing a warning to the fight or flight instincts. Ayumi's yells comes out as incoherent muffles soon after.

The touch of a drenched fabric forcefully makes contact with Ayumi's face as the attacker yanks the girl's upper body against the leather texture of the seat. Thoughts race to the pilot's mind on how to escape this situation. Automatically her Air Force combat training kicks in as she starts clawing at her face to attempt to drag the rag away with one hand while the other arm works to jerk backwards to harshly elbow the person. The lower half of the body into action as her boots heavily stomp on the floor, creating hard vibrations.

The smell of the common combination of trichloromethane and methyl trichloride engulfs Ayumi's nostrils as she fights and holds her breath to avoid inhaling the chemical known as Chloroform.

The taste of iron is evident to Ayumi's tongue as her teeth roughly bites down the glossed lips to eschew the bitter flavoring of the chemical.

The sight of light has disappeared from Ayumi's vision when the attacker ruthlessly covered her face with the chemically drenched rag. She shuts her eyes tightly to prevent potential damage to the pupils as she continues struggling in vain. Realizing this pilot is still awake and fighting back, the attacker decides to go with the backup plan that was, "less exciting" as they would say. Unbeknownst to the pilot, the figure spots an exposed area on her fairly-tan skin and prepares for an injection. They then swiftly embed a needle into the girl's neck and press down the button in order to inject the containing translucent-liquify contents into her bloodstream. Once the action has been done, the attacker releases their hold and tilts their head in twisted interest at the scene of the girl gasping for clean oxygen. Ayumi twists the chair to face her body with them. She straggles onto her feet, only suddenly realizing the body is gradually becoming limp when her legs slightly wobbles before the pilot full heartedly collides with the metallic ground with a thud.

The final thing Ayumi Tsukiyama witnesses is the mischievous glint sparkling in the unknown's eyes accompanied by the most sinister smile partaking their lips, before the Ultimate Pilot descends into her own darkness.

* * *

 **...Did that just happen? It sure did. Hey guys! Happy belated Thanksgiving and holidays! Ya girl is back with the finalized cast list and final prologue as promised! All I can really say is, ohhh damn shit just got real! I am really happy that I can officially announce that this SYOC is closed with the passenger roster finalized!**

 **DRA:FCD RECAP: So far we have learned that the remaining students of the 76th class has been selected to travel where Munakata has constructed a setup in order for them to continue their education; with the Tragedy beginning to unfold, in an overseas island location. Of course, we all know that plans didn't go according to plan as our Ultimate Pilot of the plane, poor Ayumi Tsukiyama (who is best friends with Chisa Yukizome and the 74th class) has been attacked prior to takeoff. The pilot still questions her relation with our protagonist, Akira Nakashima, now the question is...will those questions ever be answered?**

 **Also I wanted to send my sincere thanks to those who had submitted an OC for this story! According to the tally, excluding Akira, I had received 35 characters which is insane and crazy amazing considering this is my first SYOC! Of course the more I've received, the more difficult and hard it was for me to choose my passengers. I cannot express how hard it was to fill in these slots because 18 out of 35 people is 1 away from half...and there were so many well-written characters to choose from! Congratulations to those that has been accepted (Those poor souls)! Unfortunately, I can't accept them all and I deeply apologize to those who didn't get accepted. Originally I was going to only do 16 but I had already rejected some good ones and I couldn't find it in my heart to pick between 2 characters for each of the final slot so I had to extend it to 18, so really I'm writing 20 characters haha! Of course, I don't expect the ones who didn't get accepted to continue reading the story, I wouldn't blame you!**

 **Now onto me having a couple of instructions/questions for those who have been accepted:**

 **1.) First of all, congrats on your character making the passenger list! But also, be sure to check the application to make sure it's not all smushed into one giant message. Usually I don't really care how a thing is formatted but having to squint at the screen to look for something hurts my head and eyes, so it's just to make things a bit easier for me haha! Please seperate the sections and resend them to me!**

 **2.) Secondly, be sure to recheck the Brief Description of Personality section and make sure you didn't put anything that would spoil your OC's arc because during the character introductory chapters, the e-Passport will have that section for each introduction so we wouldn't want to accidentally ruin their arc right off the back if their huge secret is revealed already. If you can't come up with a rewrite of that section and/or want help on any part of the application you feel would need some revising, be sure to hit me up! I'm willing to help especially since I really want to help portray your OC accurately!**

 **3.) Speaking of OC intros, how many would you guys like to divide it per sub-chapter? We have 18 characters so would you guys like 6 characters to be introduced in 3 chapters or 3 characters for 6 chapters? Or, y'know a giant single chapter will all 18 of them lol. As hard as it is to do intros, it's also the most important so I know I'm not going to rush them! Lastly, do you guys want me to continue doing this 3rd Person POV like I have been doing with the prologues but keep the focus a bit more on Akira or just switch it to 1st Person POV and see the story unwrap just strictly from Akira's** **POV? This question will apply after the first trial/chapter because…**

 **4.) Final question, which is the question of the chapter!: How do you guys feel about the story kicking off this way?**

 **Oh yikes this AN is getting pretty lengthy, but anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the final prologue update with the cast list and that everyone has a nice day/night wherever you are, catch you guys in the next update AKA the first of the character introductions!**

 **P.S: Who am I kidding, Junko will always be the SHSL Pain in The Ass...**

* * *

 **Now onto the Reviewer Replies:**

 _ **Tobi-is-an-artist-too:**_ _Right? Pre-Despair Chisa is definitely friendship goals because damn who wouldn't want someone who can be so upbeat and threatens you with knives at the same time as a bestie? I'm glad the anticipation for the story is growing because I'm pretty sure it just popped now! And about that college coin flipping trick, that actually sounds like a great idea! Haha, but on the other hand, a simple coin trick deciding the rest of my future? Hmm, lol._

 _ **LillyShepard:** Yuppers, Ayumi will be an important character for this story! Oh crap, is that true? Hmm honestly I don't remember, but if she is then let's just pretend her despair gets stalled for a bit in this timeline haha!_

 _ **Katastic Writer:** Pre-Despair Chisa is the best Chisa tbh! And thank you so much! You guys will definitely be seeing more of her later on!_

 _ **Jibster:** Holy damn you actually reviewed on my story! I am blessed. Lol, just kidding...well kinda. But anyways, yeah man! I really liked the idea of juggling with the canon events and this story's events. I mean, yeah you have the canon timeline going on, but that just can't be the only timeline that's going on, if that makes sense? So basically this story is the side timeline happening alongside the canon's! Well damn, when you put it like that...that's pretty tragic. I wonder what would happen if Ayumi returns and sees Chisa in her lowkey despair mode? Hmm...who knows?_

 _ **TheRoseShadow21:** I mean, I figured a lot of people were wondering Ayumi's role so might as well address that question, lol. Haha thank you so much! Now the roster announcement is here and congrats!_

 _ **CandiedStars:**_ _Oh wow haha thank you for all the compliments! I'm glad I can keep you pumped up!_


	6. Chapter One: Meet the Passengers

**Chapter One** **: The Sky's The Limit:** Meet The Passengers

 _Emerald eyes widen when the person reaches the handle as the shutters recline back up to reveal a sight of the night sky fulfilled with several lambent lights from below._

 _There is a quote that goes by the saying, "Stars can't shine without darkness."_

 _This person suddenly realizes they're closer to reaching the stars than originally thought._

* * *

Transparent handprints are left on the window as the person pushes themselves off the glass and slightly stumbles back onto the previously occupied bed, "Where...where am I?" They take ahold of their temples with both hands in attempting to recall a memory, "Shouldn't I remember where I'm flying to? Oh, my plane ticket should help!" Their emerald colored eyes lightens.

They lift their head to take a quick glance around the room while placing their hands on the hips, "Now where did my ticket go?"

A few searching minutes later, the person lets out a huff; blowing a lengthy dark hair strand out of their face, after unsuccessfully locating the piece of information, "To think I could spot potential robbers in banks yet I can't find a damn piece of paper."

The sound of an electronic ringing is enough to pause their rambles as they walk towards the source. Stopping in front of a hanging, silver-rimmed, vanity mirror, the person takes in their clothes having a wrinkling appearance. A silver necklace with a dreamcatcher pendant hanging off the center continually dangles over their collarbone. Upon realizing this, they swiftly move their hands over the black belt wrapping around the waist to smooth out the creases on the darken blue bottom, cutting off mid-thigh.

Looking at their frazzling and tangling case of bed head, they run a hand through the lower light portion of the ombre-colored locks to free-lance brush it. Suddenly feeling a bit warm, the person unbuttons the first two buttons on the short-sleeved, matching color blouse and brushes out the wrinkles before opening the closet door. The first thing they notice is a vibrating shelf due to the continual ringing of a seemingly royal-blue device. Next to the object is a silver hairclip with black engraving and a signature dark-blue, police officer cap.

Before grasping the device, the officer uses the clip to pin the black bangs falling besides the face to the back of her head, dark hair transitions into honey brown locks near the shoulders. She then positions the cap on her crown while picking up the remaining object.

The thin device appears to share a tablet form with its rectangular shape. She flips it to reveal the backside having the Hope Peak's Academy crest on the center in white ink while the word "Passport" is printed above. Twisting the object back to the front, the officer presses the circular and only button, resulting in the screen coming to life. The name "Akira Nakashima" briefly appears on screen before it switches to the home page with the apps: _Passengers_ , _Layout_ , _Landing Ports_ , _Weather_ , _Flight Rules_ , _Flashlight,_ yet the _Case Files_ one seems locked at the moment.

Tapping on the _Passengers_ icon, a numbered list going up to twenty is revealed with every name slot being filled with ? except Akira's. The officer taps on her name and the passport pulls up a picture of herself from the chest upwards without the hat, smiling enough to discreetly show a dimple on the right cheek. To the left of the photo is Akira's information…

* * *

 _ **Akira Nakashima**_

 **Talent: SHSL Police Officer**

 **Age: 18**

 **Birth Date: March 3rd**

 **Height: 5'4"**

 **Weight: 125 lbs**

 **Blood Type: A**

 **Likes: Coffee, performing handcuff tricks, and serving justice**

 **Dislikes: Boredom, criminals, and the dark**

 **Other Notes: Ranging from foiling robberies to major drug busts, Akira Nakashima is known as one of Hiroshima's finest police officers from fulfilling many achievements throughout her law enforcement career. Akira's selfless actions are caused by her strict following of the job's motto, which is to "Serve to Protect". The officer initially appears with a positive glow and friendly attitude yet holds a very cautious and skeptical view coincidentally. Perhaps there's a valid reasoning behind this…**

* * *

Akira blinks.

"How in the hell?...Pretty sure passports aren't supposed to be _that_ personal?" The police officer promptly switches the device off and tosses it onto the ruffled bed. Of course, the girl neatly fixes the bed back to its organized form. She then leans back onto the sheet and hunches over towards the ankles to secure the black combat boots onto her feet before tucking the passport under arm and starts heading to the door. A light bulb of an idea flashes in her mind when she turns on the heels to retrieve a previously held item, "Probably would be a smart idea to have my badge on while questioning people…"

Walking back over to the nightstand, she picks up the decorated badge and pins it onto the upper right of her blouse before opening the door. Upon entering a brightly lit hallway with sleek white walls, the girl decides to open up the map to show the layout of the plane, "Let's see, the pilot should have the answers...The cockpit should be at the front of the plane."

Akira scans the map before looking at both ends of the hallway, "Alright, let's go right."

"That makes sense and all, except the fact that we're on the top level, officer", a slightly low and melodic voice startles the girl, causing her to turn around and glance down to meet a pair of pale blue eyes. The coloring would have reminded the officer of a tranquil, hazy sky on a clear day if it wasn't for its owner intently eyeing her. For such a slender person that is an inch shorter than Akira, the officer can not help but shrink a little under their gaze with closed lips creating a thin line of a neutral expression.

"Is that so?" Akira's eyebrows furrow as she momentarily tears her eyes away from trailing down the other person's glossy and bejeweled neckline. Switching their attention back to the currently illuminating technology, the officer lets out a huff right when the person promptly points out an icon on the lower left of the screen reading, " _FIRST CLASS: LEVEL THREE_ ".

The shorter of the two taps on the words and a list appears with as follows: " _FIRST CLASS: LEVEL THREE", "FIRST CLASS: LEVEL TWO", "FIRST CLASS: LEVEL ONE", "EAST WING",_ and _WEST WING"._ Pressing the third option, a map of the bottom level's layout appears with the cockpit clearly shown on the front.

"This is extremely helpful, thank you for your assistance, Miss…", the officer trails off while offering a lightly-olive hand to the other girl.

"...Aihahra", she responds with a warm smile. The girl then takes Akira's hand with a firm grip and eagerly shakes it, "Hi, I'm Setsuka Aihahra, SHSL Figure Skater, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Aihahra. I'm Officer Akira Nakashima, reporting for duty as the SHSL Police Officer! By the way, I really like your outfit", Akira graciously accepts the skater's enthusiasm, seemingly changing her initial hostile impression of Setsuka in mind. The officer takes a step back to get a better look at the athlete's signature fitting figure skater outfit, stopping mid-thigh.

The first thing that catches her attention aside from the gem shimmering neckline is the white dress creating a blurring light-blue gradient around the skater's curves and slightly ruffles out the bottom layers, complementing the fair complexion. Lowering her eyes to the material reaching Setsuka's ankles, it appears to be a less clunky replica of white figure skating boots with blue laces attached, but without the blades.

"I know right, these shoes are a total turn on", Setsuka comments and causes the officer to laugh. The skater grins at this considerable small victory to the average mind. But to her, making someone laugh, nevertheless an newly made acquaintance, from acknowledging her lack of humor in the past, the girl considers this response as an accomplishment.

The figure skater was about to reply when two passports sound off with the same ring from before, causing Akira to test an assumption and logs into the _Passengers_ app. The police officer's prediction is correct when the name slot next to number one has Setsuka's name occupying it.

Pressing the name, the SHSL figure skater's information and photo appears on screen.

* * *

 _ **Setsuka Aihahra**_

 **Talent: SHSL Figure Skater**

 **Age: 17**

 **Birth Date: December 21st**

 **Height: 5'3"**

 **Weight: 105 lbs**

 **Blood Type: B+**

 **Likes: Winter, Classical music, and Hot Chocolate**

 **Dislikes: Beetles, the color Red, and mushrooms**

 **Other Notes: Setsuka is as hardworking and driven as it gets. She's one who strives to be the best she can. Not all business however, she enjoys meeting people and making close friends.**

* * *

Unbeknownst to the officer, the skater notices the digital picture of herself from the corner of her eyes while grimacing at the sight of the stoic and serious expression upon the facial features. Of course, a small grin returns on her face when Akira switches off the device and turns to them, "So, Miss Aihahra...any chance you would like to go with me to the cockpit to ask the pilot where we're flying?"

The dark black; nearing close to an obsidian color, pinned bun on the skater's head tilts, while she thinks for a moment, "That makes sense! Plus, we could stop for coffee and hot chocolate along the way", the officer raises an eyebrow, indirectly making Setsuka continue, "...the map showed a cafe on the second level."

With a silent nod of agreement, the two girls descend onto the lower level through the center staircase and notice a girl sitting by the cafe's entrance window inside, while seemingly finishing up a conversation they were carrying throughout the walk, "So, how exactly did you know I was out in the hallway? Because hooooly crap! That was creepy as shit, sneaking up on me, wearin' that bejeweled collar with that icy-ass look, " the officer jokes.

"You loudly throwing around the furniture kinda interrupted my practicing, but I'm guessing you were looking for your plane ticket because I had the same reaction when I woke up too", Akira sends the skater an apologetic look.

The pair then enters the space and realize how truly the definition of a cafe the place is.

The welcome scent of coffee wafts through the air, calling to the girls' exploration legs to come take a rest. A metallic table bolted to the floor reflects the balanced lighting of the room, almost blinding Akira for a second. As the officer unsuccessfully attempts to pull out a black polyester arm-chair for the skater, she quickly realizes the object was also bolted to the flooring of wooden planks as well. While waiting for a waiter or flight attendant to arrive, the everlasting lights has heated the chair and it felt comforting and warm to the teens. They scan around for a barista at the front; the need for caffeine is currently consuming their minds.

A few minutes later, the two girls eventually come to the conclusion that there wasn't a barista or waiter tending to them, so they decide to ask for assistance from the only other person in the room. From their original seating in the center, the pair walks up to a girl with slightly wavy, dark hair almost reaching the middle of her back. Upon closer look, they realize what initially appeared to be black strands, turns out to be vitally darken brown. Akira takes a seat adjacent to the unknown girl's left side while Setsuka remains standing behind the sitting officer.

A pale hand brings a white cup partially full of coffee to the stranger's lips while the golden accents of a pair of dark brown pupils flicker to the sight of two newcomers at her table. Akira takes this moment to properly introduce herself, "Hi there, sorry to bother you, my name is Akira Nakashima and this is Setsuka Aihahra. I'm a police officer from Hope's Peak Academy…" she continues as the girl places down her cup next to a pile of paper being filled with scrawling of calculations and offers a small smile with a hand, "...it's a pleasure to meet yo-"

"Ayano Igarashi, SHSL Logician. If you do not wish to speak about mathematical theories or logical fallacies, I suggest you speak to someone else", a very quiet voice replies with a fairly flat tone and little inflection.

Akira awkwardly retracts her hand back to herself, "Pardon?"

"There is no use of two-dimensional conversation topics at this duration, so I am suggesting you seek your small discussion elsewhere." The skater opens her mouth to retort but the officer promptly putting a hand towards her, she halts. Akira sends an understanding look to the logician, having had past experience of dealing with initial uncooperative people at first glance.

"Oh, I see. You're absolutely correct Miss Igarashi. Small talk can be a drag and a waste of time, which is why we opted to come to you for a logical solution to our problem." The officer clasp her hands together.

"Don't think that I wouldn't precisely acknowledge your futile attempts at manipulating me, Officer Nakashima." Cold eyes out of the supposedly warm brown color narrows at calm and steady green ones.

"I promise we don't have any ulterior motives, we just wanted to know how you got your drink and we'll be on our way. That's all I'm asking." Ayano warily glances at Setsuka, then Akira once more before sighing and lifts her shorter build off the chair to lead the two girls. Making their way to the front counter, with the sound of silver flats lightly treading along the wooden planks, the officer notices the logician's seemingly casual yet autumn comfort styled outfit.

Comfortably covering and wrapping around the shortest girl's neck is an extensive scarf that transitions a blue gradient repetitively throughout its length, commencing from dark blue to fade into a lighter shade. Underneath the cozy fabric is a dark blue jacket. Faintly peeking out of the layers of clothes is a silver top with a visible v-neck. A spiral pattern curls around the main body in the matching color of the jacket. The logician's pale legs that were evident underneath the knee-length black skirt stops once the trio reach the lambent counter, which suddenly seems improved with technological advancement.

The two girls watch in awe as Ayano works her hands on the apparent digitally touch-screen counter and explains, "There's actually no existence of any barista here for some irrational reasoning beyond my calculations. But, simply just tap on the item you desire and a coding command will be sent to the system's database matrix to process. After a few moments, the order should arrive and appear equivalent from your finalized picking."

The logician's eyes widen for a brief second upon forgetting that sometimes people weren't as intelligent as herself. Fortunately the other two girls were busy messing around with the innovation to notice Ayano's momentarily break from her usual demeanor, "Oh look, it says here that these desserts were from the recipes of Hope's Peak Academy own SHSL Chef, Teruteru Hanamura. Kira-chan we're definitely trying these the next time I'm free after practice!"

At this point, Ayano unnoticably slips away from the scene and begins heading back to her original spot. After a few moments, the officer and skater receive their steaming coffee and hot chocolate. When they pass by the shorter girl, Akira calls her name in an appreciative manner, "Thank you for the help, Miss Igarashi! I hope to be seeing you again!"

The logician doesn't reply as Ayano continues to write mathematical expressions in a newly discovered blank space of the initially thought to be full paper. After taking a sip of her previously untouched coffee, she frowns at the cold and bitter taste of the originally sweetened beverage.

When the two girls exit the cafe, it wasn't until then both of their passport devices would sound off once again, indicating they found one of the twenty passengers. Pulling up the app, they find Ayano's name and profile, although they're not exactly too surprised at the revelation of an unemotional expression on the logician's photo.

* * *

 _ **Ayano Igarashi**_

 **Talent: SHSL Logician**

 **Age: 17**

 **Birth Date: September 9th**

 **Height: 5'2"**

 **Weight: 102 lbs**

 **Blood Type: A**

 **Likes: Snow, facts, and statistics**

 **Dislikes: Needless violence, fire, and emotions**

 **Other Notes: Ayano comes off as distant and uncaring. A logical thinker at heart, she won't tolerate anything she considers impractical. Yet even though she realizes and accepts all possibilities, she truly believes that through will and hard work, only the best ones will become reality.**

* * *

"...You knew, didn't you? You knew how to handle Igarashi-san even when she didn't want to talk to us." The figure skater continues walking as she takes a sip of her hot chocolate and looks at the officer, who returns a subtle smirk.

"Believe it or not, majority of the time my talent involves finding common ground with the most unlikely people in order to cooperate with the law. I may not be the SHSL Analyst but the ability to read people is something you definitely pick up during your law enforcement career", the officer points out.

The two resume conversing various topics while enjoying their drinks. But, they come to a pause upon discovering a hallway with perpetual flickering lights, flashing light and darkness within the confined space. Of course, a moment later, the luminosity from the ceiling disappears, trapping the duo in complete blackness.

Akira uses this time to activate the flashlight app from their passport. The device provides a compacted spotlight onto the scene ahead of them, "Come on, the staircase to the lower level is past this hallway." Setsuka begins walking to the end of the hallway but stops right in the center after not hearing footsteps following in pursuit. She turns around to the sight of the officer remaining in her place, almost like a frozen statue, "Are you coming?"

"I…" Akira hesitates and intakes a deep breath, "Okay, yeah...I can do this."

Sensing the officer's hesitation, the skater meets Akira halfway and hooks an arm underneath hers, gently patting the girl's forearm in reassurance, "You're not alone Kira-chan! It's okay to be afraid of the dark."

This causes the girl to scoff, only for the tone to come out as an unconvincing shake, "Pfft, I'm not scared of the dark...I'm just not too fond of it."

"The girl might be onto something, going alone at night might be dangerous, we should do something about it", the abrupt presence of a slight British accent from the shadows ends up startling the two.

Setsuka's arm lock on the Akira tightens as the officer's composure stiffens before calling out, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

A light shuffling ensures before a click is heard before a minuscule spotlight beams onto the two girls, nearly blinding them for a second, "Hey, I'm Kotarou. How are you? Also, my apologies for scaring you! I've been trying to fix these lights but can't seem to find a bloody solution to it for some reason. It doesn't help that sometimes this blasted tool shortens out."

The officer places a hand above her eyes, shielding them from excess strain, "Nice to meet you, Kotarou! I'm Akira and this is Setsuka, but as much as we're in the dark about what's going on around here, can we talk where there's better lighting?"

"That sounds reasonable, plus there's no use in trying to fix these lights anymore, I can't think of anything", Kotarou agrees. The sound of heavy footsteps and a trail of three lights can be seen traveling to the exit of the moonless lit hallway.

When the guy opens the door leading to the dimly-lit, central staircase, Akira can't help but feel a massive weight lifting away from her chest, allowing her to steadily breathe once more. She turns and has to look upwards to meet the brownish-green eyes of the man Akira would consider as her savior. The officer offers a signature handshake, which Kotarou politely returns with strong yet firm grip due to the palpable roughness of his slightly calloused fingers.

Basing off on an assumption, the strength was a result of the amount of times the man would handle the tools seen on the toolbox riding around his waist. Staring past his eyes, she notices the tips of his light-brown hair having an evanesce of a light-orange color which wouldn't have been noticeable from a distance.

The short length of the hair seems tidy from the frontside, but gradually starts converting into a spiky disheveled clutter in the back of his head, which the skater would have a view of. The officer speculates that while he has a disarray overall appearance with his hair, the maintenance of the tidiness in the front makes him seem more of a civil man than a rebel.

He looks to be in thought as the man crosses his arms, which shows a bit of evident bicep definition even through the dark-blue fabric belonging to the rest of his personalized-sticker, covered jumpsuit hides them. Tapping of regular sneakers with work boots topping them ensues as Kotarou questions, "What exactly were you ladies doing in the dark back there? It's not that I don't trust you, but isn't that a bit suspicious?"

Before the officer could reply, her skater friend beats her to it, "Shouldn't we be asking _you_ the same questions, Mr. Tall Dark and Scary?"

"I'm the SHSL Electrist from Hope's Peak Academy, so it's a no brainer that I would be with malfunctioning lights, can't exactly say the same for you", he defends himself.

Setsuka was about to counter argue when the ringer of hers and Akira's passports go off, signaling they located another passenger. Cracking open the roster once more, a picture of the electrician and the jumpsuit concealing his neckline pops up with him portraying a skeptic expression directed to the camera alongside Kotarou's information.

* * *

 _ **Kotarou Nakatsu**_

 **Talent: SHSL Electrist**

 **Age: 18**

 **Birth Date: January 31st**

 **Height: 5' 9.3"**

 **Weight: 141 lbs**

 **Blood Type: AB+**

 **Likes: Stars, potato chips, and justice**

 **Dislikes: Airplanes, overly sweet food, and laziness**

 **Other Notes: Slightly timid person that relaxes with friends, he will try to help anyone he thinks deserve the help. Aloof and apparently honest, Kotarou is actually a sceptic guy that means no harm.**

* * *

"We're on an airplane, yet you supposedly don't like them? Now how can you tell me _that_ isn't suspicious at all?" Setsuka doesn't seem to be backing down from defending herself and Akira anytime soon.

"I don't know if you would believe me, but honestly I don't have a bloody clue on how I ended up on this flying death machine in the first place." The officer and skater exchange a look between each other, both mentally drawing a corresponding conclusion.

"That makes it a third time that someone doesn't know what's going on. Okay, there's definitely something strange happening, we really need to find the pilot", Akira points out and the other two agree.

"Indeed. Plus, I need to speak to them about the power outage back in the hallway, it's ridiculous", the electrician decides to follow behind the two ladies as they descend down the central staircase.

Nearing the bottom steps, the officer narrows her eyes as her ears perk up to the sound of vociferous shouts and crashing of objects, "Er, Aiharha-san what was supposed to be down here again?"

"The cafeteria. Why?" Setsuka answers, oblivious to the ruckus occurring in the nearby enclosure.

"You and Nakatsu stay behind me, just in case something happens", the officer unconsciously reaches down her hips, naturally grasping thin air, causing Akira to sigh, "And I completely forgot I don't have my gun on me...great."

With all three of them crouching, except Kotarou who's just slightly bending his knees due to his tall height, Akira carefully tugs the metallic door open and peeks through the crack for any signs of hostility.

The officer certainly detects belligerence among the participants in the cafeteria through the emphasizing shouts suddenly crescendoing to the trio. Although, what she isn't expecting is the sight of a feminine figure hurling various fruits and produce at the male with a relatively average build on the opposite side of the cafeteria while bellowing considerably childish insults. A stocky-built third figure is seen attempting to act as the peacekeeper of the situation, but the fellow is coincidentally having to dodge the thrown fruits as well.

Akira fully opens the door to allow the skater and electrician to witness a better view.

Now they wish she didn't.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat what you just said? You're going to tell your daddy on me? How old are you again? I associate myself with people that are part of Hope's Peak Academy, not the elementary branch." Akira sets foot in the cafeteria with Kotarou and Setsuka following, all three of them watch the scene unfold as the target of thrown fruit has a smug smirk gradually emerging onto his face.

"Well...Well...you ...you...you aren't that great either, you...uh...you! Uu...You nincompoop!" The officer's face scrunches at the comeback as she takes a look at the frustrated girl send an icy glare through the gradience mix of a blueish purple color of her eyes.

"In my own personal experience, the vast majority of people I've met have been idiots. But Valliere, you, you're just a whole new level of idiocy." The condescending shirtless man fails to dodge the girl's next throw, a ripe tomato splatters across his relatively tan chest, dirtying the four bead necklaces drooping down to frame the lotus tattoo on his chest. The lavender, chamomile, forest green, and dark brown coloring of the ink visibly disappears due to the product's exploded components laying on top of it, vastly angering him, "How dare you disrespect my ancestors you little bi-"

"Yo Nakai, that's enough man!" the third figure steps in the middle of the two once the girl that goes by "Valliere" ceases produce fire.

"Hey Meleah...Nobody asked", the man that goes by "Ocha" venomously turns to the other guy who's currently glaring light-brown daggers in return.

"You know what's funny? You're the SHSL Tea Brewer yet you look as if you haven't relaxed for a day in your life", Meleah trudges to the brewer and due to their two inches of a height difference, he stares intently into Ocha's complacent dark-brown eyes, indirectly provoking him.

As this stare-down happens, the previously fruit hurling girl turns and just now acknowledges the presence of the three newcomers, her face instantly softens, "Oh, hi there! I'm Crystelle Valliere, the youngest of the Valliere family, and the SHSL Classical Musician, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Should I be concerned about those two over there? And, Akira Nakashima, the SHSL Police Officer." Akira blinks at the caprice change of attitude but also glances over to the continuing stare down between the two guys.

"You mean Mr. Meleah and Mr. Ocha? I would be concerned about Nakai because...what a nuisance!" Crystelle makes a face and grimaces.

"I heard that!"

"Not my problem that I'm just stating facts!", the musician hollers back. She turns back to face the trio with a look of confusion spread across their faces. The officer shakes her head back into reality to analyze the appearance of the newly met girl as Setsuka and Kotarou would give their introductions.

Light coffee brown locks that could be easily mistaken as dirty blond at first glance, bounces on its downfall along her back. The visible front bangs pushes off to the left side of her face in a non-messy way while the ends of her hair appear to be slightly curled. The only hair accessory that catches Akira's attention is a glimmering diamond hairclip.

Seemingly to be the only person actually wearing an uniform like outfit, the elegant girl wears a fully-closed, white blazer with black lining on the cuffs and lapels over a black dress shirt and violet colored tie barely peeking out of the little space left by the top is seen. For the bottom half of the outfit, she wears a white uniform skirt and black leggings to cover her bare and slender legs. The three inch white-heeled boots tap on the floor with the necklace of a silver bird appearing alongside the upper half of her body.

Eventually, the sound of a fist making contact with the tea brewer's jaw breaks the officer from her thoughts, "HEY!"

The two men engage in a physical alteration with Meleah taking advantage of Nakai being caught off guard and continues landing blows to the brewer's abdomen with one fist while the other arm forcefully locks Nakai against the wall, "I am so sick of you having the need to bully people, you hear me?!"

Akira begins dashing over to the other side of the room with Katarou following behind. Setsuka and Crystelle remain perplexed in their place, watching the fight occur.

Three rings echoes from the skater's passport.

Dismissing the tension filled scene unraveling in front of her, Setsuka checks out the three new passengers' profiles, starting with Crystelle.

* * *

 _ **Crystelle Valliere**_

 **Talent: SHSL Classical Musician**

 **Age: 18**

 **Birth Date: December 8th**

 **Height: 5'6"**

 **Weight: 113 lbs**

 **Blood Type: A**

 **Likes: Piano music, coffee, and singing**

 **Dislikes: Tea, dogs, and being alone**

 **Other Notes: The youngest child and only daughter of the Valliere family. As this young lady's family is quite known for their participation on the arts; she also is skilled in an artform which would be music. Unlike more versatile musicians, Crystelle strictly indulges herself in the classical genre and usually listens, composes, or sings to classical pieces. It is said that her biggest inspirations include people like Franz Liszt, Pyotr Tchaikovosky, and of course, Ludwig van Beethoven. However, as she is also a composer similar to them, she herself has memorable pieces such as "White Emotions", "Iridescent", and "Her Lies and His Truth".**

* * *

The skater then clicks on Nakai's profile, suddenly feels a bit irritated upon seeing the pixelated version of his smug face appear on screen.

* * *

 _ **Nakai Ocha**_

 **Talent: SHSL Tea Brewer**

 **Age: 18**

 **Birth Date: November 20th**

 **Height: 5'11"**

 **Weight: 156 lbs**

 **Blood Type: A-**

 **Likes: Brewing tea, boasting, and World History**

 **Dislikes: Sports, bugs, and coffee**

 **Other Notes: A smug and boastful student. Quick to look down upon others for their mistakes. Often tries to impart advice even when it is not his place. Finds great joy in games like Risk and Monopoly.**

* * *

Hitting the white arrow to return to the home page for the _passengers_ app, the title "Etano Meleah" tugs at her interests as it finally gives the skater the first name of the other man. Tapping on the name, Etano's photo gives off a carefree tone as a lazy smile is plastered on his face.

* * *

 _ **Etano Meleah**_

 **Talent: SHSL Surfer**

 **Age: 18**

 **Birth Date: July 26th**

 **Height: 5'9"**

 **Weight: 190 lbs**

 **Blood Type: O**

 **Likes: Cooking fish, strumming the ukulele, and lounging around**

 **Dislikes: Conflicts, sour candy, and birds**

 **Other Notes: Your typical laid back happy go lucky beach goer. Likes it when things go smoothly not really liking fights or arguments. Real big on family and friends and will spring into action for either of them.**

* * *

"Why am I not surprised that the lowly beach bum such as yourself wouldn't have the class that most drinkers of my teas have to understand the reality of this situation?" Even though coughs, Nakai would unremit insulting remarks. At this point, Meleah switches into wrapping both hands around the brewer's throat, blocking the oxygen from reaching his lungs. The brewer's vision begin to blur while struggling against the attacker's hold.

Fortunately for Nakai, he hazily spots the obscure image of the police officer closing in from the corner of his eyes in what seems to happen in slow motion for him.

The scene resumes its regular pace as Akira swiftly side tackles Etano, causing him to release his grip on the tea brewer the both of them crashes into the ground. The officer kneels on the black fabric on his back with one knee and yanks both of the surfer's arms backward, over the black colored kukui nut lei wrapping around his neck.

As for Kotarou, he's busy holding back Nakai with a stiff arm in front of his bare chest, narrowly avoiding the deer-hide bracers around the brewer's arms. Nakai's incredibly long braided hair that is tied into a single ponytail with a grey-black color, partially blocks the electrician's view, considering it drops all the way down to his knees. A breechcloth covers his legs as his shoes happen to have been made from deer-hide as well.

Upon getting this close view of the surfer, the officer gets a better look of his appearance. Thick, lengthy, and silky dark-brown hair reaches his mid-back, nearly preventing Akira was gripping his arms. The black long-sleeve shirt with palm leaves on it has buttons traveling upwards, except several of the buttons were undone to reveal a bit of his toned olive-colored chest. The cargo pants would become wrinkle due to their position with a pair of brown leather sandals being awkwardly bent.

Akira couldn't help but roll her eyes at the predicament she's currently in as she lets out an irritated sigh.

"If I actually had my handcuffs on me, you two would've been arrested for reckless stupidity."

* * *

A figure is seen sitting in a luxurious office intently watching the operating monitors, paying particular attention to the screen with the label "Cafeteria". Pressing the plus button on the control panel, the camera zooms in to catch the sight of Akira Nakashima handling the escalated situation between Etano Meleah and Nakai Ocha. They chuckle to themselves, thinking of how predictable and banal the students were acting. A person lugging something with a beige-leathered fabric covering it, over their shoulders in the "Hallway 4" screen clutches their awareness and a riveted pair of eyes switches over to that camera.

The figure in the hallway stares into the camera with a glint in their pupil and holds a thumbs up before continuing along their travel path.

The being in the office has a smile tugging on the curve of their lips upon taking note that person has accomplished their task.

They turn to pick up the nearby phone and dials a number, twirling the spiral cord around their nimble fingers.

They speak upon hearing another person answer on the other line.

"Phrase one of the plan has been completed. Tell Enoshima."

* * *

 **...And there we have it folks, the first set of passengers has been introduced! Hey guys! Happy holidays! Ya girl is back with the first actual chapter of the story which only took like 3 weeks to do, yikes. So, my apologies on that, I definitely wasn't expecting to get smacked with a bunch of projects and tests right after break!**

 **DRA:FCD:RECAP: The passengers of the flight have been revealed to be students of the 76th class of HPA who have been selected to travel to an overseas location during the beginning of the Tragedy. In this chapter, we have met our protagonist, Akira Nakashima who is the SHSL Police Officer along with 6 other students! The officer and company went on a journey to find the captain's cockpit to answer some underlying questions the passengers have, but of course they get distracted by various characters.**

 **Onto the story in general...Well, I mean who wouldn't want a nice cup of coffee before being told you have to kill your classmates? But anyways, regarding last chapter's questions I had...I decided to continue on with the 3rd Person POV for this story because now that I think about it, I can't really fit in 1st POV that much? So, I decided on bouncing back and forth with 3rd Person Objective and 3rd Person Limited! Limited would mostly be used during the class trials and free time events to not spoil too much things while objective would be used for introductions and investigations mostly. I'm also going to do the 6 characters being introduced for 3 chapters as well!**

 **Soooo, let's go onto the fun part of the AN, the questions for the readers!:**

 **This isn't really a question but more like an offering, lol. But I have this really cool DR SYOC concept of what if instead of having the Ultimate students from HPA participating...it's the teachers or really the HPA staff in general? So instead of dealing with young teens it could be various aged adults in a killing game? Like what if HPA'S Janitor kills the Astronomy teacher because the motive would be if someone hasn't killed within 24 hours then their children would die? I would do this but I don't really have much of an idea as to where that story would lead compared to FCD, so I think it'll be really cool if someone were to create this story!**

 **Questions to the creators of the OCs introduced in this chapter: Let me know if I'm wrote them correctly? Like do you guys think they're getting enough screen time for a thorough introduction or is it too long or too short? Did I use their characteristics correctly?**

 **Questions for future reference: How many free time events is there before a motive and murder happen? Or basically how many is there per chapter? I honestly don't remember but once all the intros are done, I'll make a poll and let you guys vote on the FTE for chapter one! Also, during investigations, should I include the truth bullets like in the DR games?**

 **Questions of the chapter!: Who's your favorite/least favorite character so far? Also, what's going on in the ending there…? Hmmm.**

 **By the way, if I haven't gotten to your character yet, don't stress! I will get to them either next chapter or the one after, I promise! As for the next update, I wouldn't be surprised if it's during winter break tbh considering I have my college finals this week and then AP finals the following week, yeah...Yay senior year!**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed the first set of character introductions, and that everyone has a nice day/night wherever you are, catch you guys in the next update AKA the second set of introductions!**

 **P.S: You should totally listen to Bruno Mars' album 24K Magic because it's just full of bops along with Back to Me by Marian Hill & Lauren Jauregui! Also, virtual high-five if you could spot the quote reference I used from a show that isn't DR! **

**Now onto the Reviewer Replies:**

 _ **Tobi-is-an-artist-too:**_ _Ohhh damn y'know when the plot thickens is when stuff is about to really go down and I'm really excited to be writing when it does! And awesomeness is a great word indeed! Variety queen has such a...variety ways of describing her character haha! And thanks man!_

 _ **Mischief Prince:**_ _I'm sure my update schedule with posting these updates will continue to make you scream from how random they are! And right? The anticipation is real! Everybody gets to meet everybody's babies before going through despair...that's just lovely, of course. Ayumi and Chisa are friendship goals and always cute! Oh, well perhaps your impressions changed after this chapter...Anyways, thank you for the support and I hope this first SYOC goes well as well!_

 _ **Jibster:**_ _That was a well reference in deed! And I see your point with giving each character a chance to shine a bit and I hoping to accomplish that with these intros. The lengthy AN shall always be at the end of the chapter haha! Okay true there's some Junko waifu qualities under all those layers of despair, I'm sure! I don't remember if I answered about the dialogue but that's a great question! I'll be bouncing back and forth with Japan's and whatever nationality the other characters have if that makes sense?_

 _ **Kurziri:**_ _Ayano was really fun to write consider it gives me a shot to use my mathy word knowledge lol. And yeah, that's what I really love about this story too! It's like, yeah you have the canon stuff in DR happening but that can't be the only event that's occurring in the world at the same time? I just like writing stuff that ends up connecting at one point haha! Which is why the ending for this story will be really interesting considering it's happening pre-DR1!_

 **JiminKisaragi:** _Ah, sorry man! And haha I love your spirit of continuing to read this! I really appreciate it!_

 _ **madmissY01:**_ _You're welcome! She's an interesting little thing that's for sure! Thank you so much for your input!_

 _ **LillyShepard:**_ _No problem and I can't wait to write him out as well! And ikr, barely in the plane before things just casually escalated because that's DR for you haha! To answer your question, I would say it's more like 78th class tbh where everybody initially don't know each other but has had a past where they did and were close!_

 **Katastic Writer:** _That's such a nice thing to say, I'm really honored, haha thank you for the compliments! I honestly really enjoyed how the prologues provided a build up leading to the story starting off with a bang! The more variety of personalities and talents and nationalities I have, the better and well-rounded the cast is tbh!_

 **CandiedStars:** _Haha you're very much welcome as I enjoyed writing Setsuka's character! And thank you so much, I'm glad to hear that the story has been kicked off in a great way haha!_

 **RettyL:** _I honestly really love your attitude! On the bright side at least you don't already have a character to be attached to so it's not so bad when they start dying off! Thank you so much for the compliment and input!_

 **BlancPhoenix:** _No problem! I really enjoyed September's application! Lmfao, I think if I tried all 18 of them in one chapter, this update wouldn't had come out till the summer tbh! And thank you! If only we knew what will happen to Ayumi, oh well...Damn didn't know my words were mystical! Maybe they'll magically give me a 9 on the AP English 4 test haha!_

 **TheUnkindledHunter:** _Thank you! And what kind of recommendations do you mean? Like actual DR fics or SYOC ones? Speaking of new generation of despair, I happen to have an OC in there!_

 **BlueTanaka:** _Awww, thank you so much for sticking with this story! I appreciate the continual support man!_

 **TheRoseShadow21:** _Oh whoops, my bad! Sometimes I can't tell with an uppercase I or lowercase l at times, but don't fret, I made sure to change it, I got you! And you're correct, it really does fit better for a 3rd POV for this story haha! Ah yes, gotta have that balance of nice moments before it goes crashing down with despair! Yeah, usually the list is either right in the beginning or end for some reason? Thank you for your support!_

 **HansenHanni:** _The hype is so on! Haha thank you for the input!_

 **Mpjindustries:** _Ah that's okay, things happen! Wow that's a major compliment because I know you write really well as well, haha! Also about the intro bit, yeah I was thinking about what to do with that. Like do I want to continue using it for each chapter? Use it for chapters with important events? But, I think I'll just settle with just using that just for only the prologues because those bits show off Akira's personality since we haven't properly met her during the prologues, if that makes sense. But thank you for the compliments!_

 **16Doobop13:** _No problem man! All of these talents are truly interesting and I personally can't wait to see what I'm going to do with them! But anyways, thank you for your input!_


	7. Chapter One: Meet the Passengers II

**Chapter One : The Sky's The Limit: **Meet The Passengers II

 _Akira couldn't help but roll her eyes at the predicament she's currently in as she lets out an irritated sigh._

" _If I actually had my handcuffs on me, you two would've been arrested for reckless stupidity."_

* * *

"Um...Kira-chan, don't you think adding duct-tape is a bit too harsh?"

Setsuka Aihara sits on a metallic stool and crosses a slender leg over the other while adjusting her dark hair by releasing the locks from its original position within the bun. The figure skater subconsciously applies an available hand to brush the loose hair hanging down by her chest. In the meantime, Akira Nakashima steps back to examine her master work from a close distance.

"Dear lord...Just listening to your endless goody-two shoe yapping is enough to cause a migraine! But, I must say, perhaps this is not harsh enough for that nuisance of a behemoth. But he does indeed make an essential target practice for my fruit throwing skills", Crystelle Valliere takes a single bite out of a red-delicious apple in an elegant twirl around her nimble fingers.

"Last time I checked, you were the SHSL Classical Musician, not the SHSL Fruit Thrower", Setsuka counters while she ties her hair back into a low bun.

"Last time I checked, wearing a pretty dress and squirming on frozen water should never have been considered as a sport", the musician hurls the now eaten to the core apple at the skater from five seats away. Luckily Setsuka's reflex kicks in time to narrowly dodge the thrown produce, thinking the taller girl should be lucky to have not ruin her dress.

"Can you two knock it off? Keep talking and you guys would end up getting the tape treatment like Ocha over here!"

Now that the officer thinks about it, perhaps the action of placing a thick strip of duct tape on Nakai Ocha's mouth and a medium-length, orange cable constricting both wrists behind his raw back might have been a bit _too_ impractical. She reaches to the sturdy knot but pauses when the officer glances up to witness a sight of Etano Meleah isolating himself at the far end of the table, solemnly strumming away on a tan ukulele.

Kotarou Nakastu is seen beside him, attempting to strike a conversation to take the Samoan's mind off the recent event.

Etano doesn't pay him any attention and when the electrician realizes he wasn't getting a response any time soon, Kotarou silently takes a seat on the stool adjacent to the surfer. He knows that when dealing with wires as potential fire hazards, patience is key, otherwise Kotarou may end up getting burnt in the end. Between the two men is a comfortable silence vocal-wise following the sound of melodic tunes from the ukulele. The instrument is painted with white flower petals on the body attaching to a black shoulder strap with sharks on it, Akira makes a mental note to ask for its significance when the surfer is in a better mood. She immediately backs away while dusting off her hands and shares a look with the figure skater, "Not a bit. Plus, I'm serving to protect. I'm protecting this jerk from saying or doing anything that might hurt you guys."

The officer briefly glares at the tied up brewer, and bends down to eye-level while speaking to him in a tone like a parent scolding their child, "Mr. Ocha, if you like to leave, one of these lovely passengers here has to do it themselves," she pauses before standing back up, "...and that's up to them. Consider this as a metaphor for how whatever comes from your mouth can hurt, exactly like how this piece of tape here is going to hurt like hell when it gets pulled off. Now if you excuse me, I need to go find the pilot of this plane."

Akira softly pats Nakai's cheek with a seemingly innocent smile before stepping away from him.

"Hey Aihara-san and Nakastu-san, watch over these two numbnuts while I go find the pilot, okay?" The officer starts heading to the exit of the cafeteria.

"Really bruh?", the surfer finally speaks as he continuously strums the ukulele.

"Oh, I wasn't talking about you Meleah-san." Akira rises an eyebrow as she glances over at the seating classical musician and tea brewer.

"Excuse me?! I certainly am not an artificial numbnut! I'm the esteemed Crystelle Valliere, you vagrant!" The musician's complaints goes unheard as the officer notices the electrician and figure skater approaching her.

"No offense love, but isn't it a bit suspicious to be running around by yourself? Especially when you barely found your way here without Aihara?" Kotarou asks as he furrows his eyebrows a bit.

"Yeah Kira-chan, you shouldn't be venturing off alone!" Setsuka's agrees with a very reassuring voice, almost tempting the officer.

"Look, I appreciate the concern, but it's better for everyone to stay within one area until I figure out what the hell is going on here", Akira places a hand on both of their shoulders, "...Plus, I'm the SHSL Police Officer for a reason, I'm sure I can find my way. I'm handing you two a major task, which is to watch over those guys while I'm gone. I trust you guys! I'll be back shortly!"

The officer turns and makes her leave when she gets a silent nod in return from the duo.

"Since when did she become the unofficial leader…?" The electrician blinks and looks down to the skater who merely shrugs in response.

* * *

Akira is seen strolling through the vast hallway with her electronic passport in hand with the plane's layout on its screen, guiding her.

She passes by a door but halts when the officer could scarcely hear a voice from behind one of the rooms.

"Aah...how boring this situation turns out to be. I could use a body right now…" the mysterious voice pauses, waiting for a response, "...yes, in that kind of way. Hey, knock it off! That hurts!"

The officer quickly hones in on the precise door the voice was coming from and effortlessly picks up her right leg and swiftly kicks at the door.

What Akira forgets to remember is the fact that all doors were metallic sliding doors...and attaches to the plane.

Of course the amount of force the girl applies to her combat boot causes her to bounce the rest of her body backwards from the solid surface. She promptly lands on her bottom on the hard floor harshly, mentally cursing at the laws of physics, "Damn, I really gotta control these reflexes."

Upon hearing a booming thud against their door, the occupant slides open the barrier and inspects the fallen officer with curious eyes.

The person appears similarly the equivalent height of the officer but more slimmer than average girls to a degree. Akira's hands brushes against the fabricated, black doctor's coat being draped over their shoulder designed with crosses across it. Long sleeves of the pure-white, traditional kimono covering the exhilarating girl's hands wearing fingernails with black coloring yanks her wrists upward from her spot, standing upright.

"Thank you for your assistan-OOF", a tight and sudden pressure appears around Akira's back as the other girl engulfs her in a hug. Since this action catches the officer off-guard, she ungainly snakes her own arms around the other person momentarily before releasing her grip, except the stranger hasn't released theirs. A dicey moment passes with Akira only having the downward view of black hair gradually interchanges to a blonde color as the strands reach the tips. Although, there is a limit on this due to the knee-length locks being secured with a golden hairpin covered in detailed flower designs, keeps a small curl at the side of the other being's face. Generally, the appearance of her hair resembles a disheveled mess with spikes poking out near the ponytail.

Once the other person actually releases their hold on the officer, emerald-green eyes takes in the sight of a pair of alluring eyes with two different colors, long eyelashes covers them. Her left eye is teal in color, reminding the officer of the mixture of the serenity of green and the tranquility of the blue. As for the other eye, the obstinately of a running scar through it occupies a crimson red coloring that contrasts the former. When the other girl takes notice of Akira staring at her intently, she briskly shuts the right eye, hiding the salient scarring.

"Oh...hello there!", the newcomer positively greets with a shut eye. The officer decides to hide her skepticism of the sudden change of action, she figures the marking is a personal topic for close allies than strangers. She contorts her smile into a convincing warm one, "It seems there's more bodies to deal with. Let's explore one another okay?"

Akira's smile plummets with her composure stammering, "Hi there, Miss...wait, wh-what?"

"Oh heavens, how discourteous of me to not have introduced myself! I am Eclair Stuart, certified Super High School Level Surgeon of Hope's Peak Academy!", she replies, only shredding a portion of the officer's dubiety of the misunderstanding. Traditional wooden heels clack on the floor as she attempts the officer once again, only for Akira to take a step backwards in avoidance. In doing so, she catches a glimpse of the surgeon's white sash wrapping around their waist being secured by a black bow. Underneath the kimono were black leggings being held in place by a garter belt.

"Nice to meet you Miss Stuart, I'm Akira Nakashima, certified Super High School Level Police Officer of Hope's Peak Academy," the officer uses the identical peppy tone to match Eclair's.

Coincidentally, both parties' devices goes off, providing the officer a bit of relief. Although that brief relief was squashed from looking at the wide smile upon the girl's lips that gives off an eerie vibe upon the reflection of Eclair's photo.

* * *

 _ **Eclair Stuart**_

 **Talent: SHSL Surgeon**

 **Age: 17**

 **Birth Date: July 14th**

 **Height: 5'4"**

 **Weight: 123 lbs**

 **Blood Type: O**

 **Likes: Sugary food, laughing, and hugs**

 **Dislikes: Hypocrites, tight spaces, and being alone**

 **Other Notes: A solemn girl who wishes to provide help to this world so people will have their happy ending. The Surgeon is usually a calm girl who carries herself with grace, but is considerably sociable with anyone, even though her actions tend to drive people away. Eclair's sole purpose in life is to assist others...so they may not end up like her.**

* * *

"Police officer? Huh? Where's your handcuffs?" Eclair questions, causing the officer's eyes to dart to her unoccupied waist.

"That's...a great question, because I can't seem to find them for some reason. I'll try looking for them later on", Akira shrugs.

"Well, _Officer_ Nakashima, I can think of _plenty_ of uses for them. You should show me those handcuff _tricks_ sometime", the Surgeon faces the officer with a not-so convincing innocent smile.

Of course, Akira breathes in deeply before hesitates to answer while dodging the subtle innuendo, "Alrighty then, anyways I was passing by when I heard a disturbance? Are you okay? Was someone in there with you?"

Eclair does a single wave in dismissal, "Oh, you heard that? My apologies, I was just telling my head to stop throbbing."

"Didn't sleep well?"

"I don't have a particular reason as to why I woke up on the floor, so I'm assuming no", the Surgeon rubs her temples.

"You should go to the cafeteria down the hall and drink a glass of water, usually that does the trick for helping headaches and hangovers", Akira shifts her weight to the other leg.

"Yes, that's right. As an athlete, water is your best friend for everything. Although, isn't it a bit weird that the _police officer_ knows how to treat hangovers?", a pretty soft spoken replies in place of Eclair's, causing the officer to look past the surgeon's head to spot a tall male figure approaching them.

"With the amount of drunken idiots I pull over, how could I not? I always had an extra water bottle in the squad car in case people start vomiting their regrets", the officer places a hand on their hip, her gaze travels upwards to meet solid brown eyes simplified behind silver colored glasses holding a squared frame.

"O-oh, I guess you're right. Heh, sorry," he admits and picks up the white towel draping over his dark-green, hooded shoulder to dry off the dampen, dark brown hair. Noticing how fresh and clean the man looks, the officer figures he had just gotten out of the shower. He then lightly slicks back the hair, revealing a mid-neck length. The athlete clutches his glasses, revealing a beauty mark under his left eye, and maneuvers the towel to cleanse the glass while introducing himself, "Hello, I'm Santiago. Santiago Lopez, it's a pleasure to meet you."

That particular names tugs at the officer's faint memory, "Santiago...Where have I heard that name before?"

"I'm the SHSL Basketball Player, maybe you've patrolled one of the games?"

The sound of Akira's and Eclair's device goes off right at the end of his statement. The profile photo of the athlete doesn't surprise the officer by how his grin and sparkling eyes is directed to the camera, as if posing in front of one was a routine.

* * *

 _ **Santiago Lopez**_

 **Talent: SHSL Basketball Player**

 **Age: 18**

 **Birth Date: December 22nd**

 **Height: 6'0"**

 **Weight: 155 lbs**

 **Blood Type: O+**

 **Likes: Basketball, dogs, and spicy food**

 **Dislikes: Country music, birds, and rain**

 **Other Notes: Santiago is well known for his soft and relaxed nature and has been playing basketball for multiple years. He's actually become somewhat well known in the community, mostly through being on the cover of magazines about up and coming athletes. Not to mention his work for charity work for hospitals and organizations for sick kids.**

* * *

The officer smiles at the revelation of the new information of the player, "You _do_ know that I have an enjoyable life that doesn't revolve around the law, right? I remember attending one of your games when Canada played in Hiroshima for the Olympics' qualifier...where you guys got your asses handed to you by Japan."

Santiago scoffs, "I assure you, I'm definitely better on Hiroshima's court than you'll ever be, _officer_."

Akira raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms, "Is that a challenge, Lopez?"

"I wouldn't consider it a challenge since it's my talent, but maybe it will be for you", the athlete jokes as Akira holds out a hand.

"I'm in if you're not chicken enough to get your Canadian ass kicked by Hiroshima again!", a hand of a medium-brown complexion grips onto the officer's as Santiago shakes on agreement.

"Whatever floats your boat, Officer…", he trails off, not recalling to have gotten a name from the girl.

"...Nakashima. Akira Nakashima."

"Ooooh, is it me or is it suddenly getting hot with all this sexual tension building up from the two of you?" The Surgeon indulges on the flash of dirty looks she receives from the police officer and basketball player simultaneously.

"So, any chance you could take this one to the cafeteria while I go find the pilot?" Akira beckons her head towards Eclair.

"Yes, ma'am! I still want that rematch in the gym when you're free!" Santiago responds before grabbing onto the collar of the kimono and proceeds to drag the Surgeon away from the scene. Speaking of said SHSL Surgeon, Eclair doesn't take this action too lightly as she begins thrashing around in his hold.

"I yearn to remain with Akira! She's a police officer so she's naturally a leader!" Eclair vociferously cries out.

"True, but I was the captain of my team if that counts?" Santiago replies.

"Oh. Well okay, that's satisfying, I suppose." The Surgeon suddenly relaxes at the athlete's touch and allows him to carry on with his trekking before snickering, "Hey, hey watch the grip! I mean, I like it a little rough, not too much, but maybe just enough."

The basketball player sighs while Akira chuckles from the distance. Watching the athlete's black sneakers move further and further away, she couldn't help but notice Santiago's white tank top peeking from underneath the opening of his dark green hoodie that matches with grey and orange basketballs shorts.

She turns and resume her journey to the cockpit when a concern pops into mind.

"I wonder how the cafeteria crew is doing?"

* * *

"CRYSTELLE NO!"

There was a unison voice coming from the electrician, figure skater, and surfer as the classical musician inches close to the tea brewer and places a fair hand on the corner of the piece of tape sealing Nakai's lips.

Crystelle scoffs, "As if none of you vagabonds weren't thinking of doing this…"

A clean sound of tape being wrenched off the surface of the brewer's face rings through the air, his mouth appearing puffy and red, evidently appears, "AHHHH FU-How do girls regularly do this with their eyebrows?!"

"As the saying goes, beauty is pain. I can't relate since I naturally look this good", the musician flips her hair back, "...Can't say the same for Frosty the ice princess over there."

"I swear to god, you-" Setsuka begins, only to be interrupted by Etano standing in the middle of them.

"Yo sistas, please no more fighting...I don't want another fight to break out", the surfer pleads. The skater's blue eyes briefly stares into the worn out ones of Etano's and promptly backs down. She sighs before retreating to the seat closest to the entrance, patiently waiting for the officer to come back. Setsuka watches the scene between the original cafeteria group plus Kotarou unravel, making sure to supervise over them as her friend requested.

"As much as I should feel bitter about Nakashima pulling this on me, you have to admit that a pretty face with a sharp tongue like hers is hot...Am I right, Nakastu?" The electrician rolls his eyes at the tea brewer's comment.

"All in favor of applying a fresh strip on our mate's face, say aye", Kotarou holds up the duct tape roll.

"AYE!" Crystelle, Etano, and Setsuka's voices unite together.

Santiago Lopez and Eclair Stuart share a quizzical look between each other upon arriving to the sight of three people cheering and clapping at a man applying tape to another person's face.

* * *

"Alright, so the cockpit should be up ahead according to this map." Akira Nakashima glances down upon her passport device one last time before arriving to an empty space with a metal door facing the officer.

Well, an _almost_ empty room.

The resonating of tapping on a keyboard catches her attention as she turns to the right side of the room to see the back of a slim figure with a black hoodie and blue jeans occupying red sneakers with blackened trim and laces. Unkempt jet-black hair nearly reaches their hooded shoulders. A metallic chain on their belt loop jingles as they shift their weight to the other leg, clearly focusing on the task on hand. The owner is currently hunching over a computer terminal, seemingly trying to access the cockpit as well, "For fuck sakes, why can't I find a shitty opening on here?"

The officer unknowingly silently walks towards them and softly taps on their shoulder blade, galvanizing him to the point of widen green eyes whipping around to meet curious ones in matching color, "Holy fu-fuck, you, you scared the shit out of me officer!"

"My apologies! Just wondering what you were up to", Akira laughs at his colorful comment.

"I've been trying to get the son of a dick's attention on figuring out what the hell is going on with this plane, but no answer. So, I figured an uninvited welcome would grab their attention." The man towering over the officer explains, with his facial features facing Akira, she achieves a better view of his rich tan appearance.

If she never had initially frightened the young man with her unconsciously stealth moves, the officer would have pinned him as a bit intimidating due to the two lip rings hanging off the left side of his lower lip. Along with a stud earring embedded in his right earlobe, and a ring covering one of his eyebrows. Turns out his jacket has an inviting opening with the vast appearance of a white, graphic tee with the logo for a gaming company upon it. At the moment, the gear logo within a quarter opened circle promotes the Bethesda Game Studios on the shirt. The left knee feels the soft breeze of the plane's air conditioner due to it being tattered at that area. Upon looking at his hair, the dark colored bangs are brushed over his right eye with a small ahoge evidently pointing to the left.

"That's interesting because I'm here for the exact same reason. So, that makes it another person that doesn't know why we're on this plane…", Akira concludes.

"Yeah, loose ends make my ass itch. But, hey! Kuzuri Inamine, SHSL Beta Tester. Nice to meet ya", he holds out a hand.

As always, the device in the officer's hand vibrates with the passenger notification sound ringing. She opens Kuzuri's profile and immediately spots the photo of the beta tester's lip rings curling into a small smile.

* * *

 _ **Kuzuri Inamine**_

 **Talent: SHSL Beta Tester**

 **Age: 18**

 **Birth Date: October 11th**

 **Height: 6'4"**

 **Weight: 182 lbs**

 **Blood Type: O+**

 **Likes: Games, punk music, and singing**

 **Dislikes: Sour candy, formal events, and being hated**

 **Other Notes: Kuzuri's a nice guy! A little awkward at times, but he's very friendly and can get on with just about anyone he meets. Though, he does have a habit of cussing…**

* * *

"Well said Inamine. I'm Akira Nakashima, SHSL Police Officer, nice to meet you as well! Although, I would've figured you were the SHSL Hacker or Programmer for a second." The officer politely shakes the beta tester's hand in response.

"Heh, to put it bluntly, I just basically find the computing errors where the gaming companies fucked up before they release the games," Kuzuri shrugs.

"And that's how you're planning on unlocking the door leading to the cockpit, isn't it...", Akira assumes which the beta tester nods, "That's really smart!"

"Exactly! Now, let me take another crack at this so we could end this mindfucking fuckity." Kuzuri turns back onto the digital terminal as the clacking of the thin keyboard ensues.

A few minutes later, the words, " _ACCESS SEQUENCE GRANTED_ " is blinking across the screen in a light-green shading of chartreuse. The duo high-five each other at this seemingly major accomplishment.

Although, what the two did not notice straightaway is the presence of a massive silver, pintle machine gun revealing itself from the ceiling. It aims its nozzle directly at the spot in front of the computer terminal. Fortunately for the two, Akira spots a red dot making a sudden appearance on the beta tester's white shirt, knowing fully too well the warning signs of potential sniper targeting. The sound of rapid fire bullets being triggered is heard a split second after the officer tackles Kuzuri, sending the both of them to the floor away from the terminal. After landing on top of the excessively taller person's chest, Akira instantly checks for any bullet holes or wounds on the both of them. Luckily neither of them was harmed from this close encounter. Glancing back at their original spot, the floor is ridden with multiple small holes on the metallic ground, nearly being hidden by the cloud of smoke slithering from it.

The pair may not have been physically injured, but Kuzuri was a bit shaken from his near-death experience, "MOTHERFUCKING DICK SUCK CUNT FUCKING FUCK FUCKITY FUCK FUCKER FUCKING FUCK FUCKERS!"

"What in the blazing hells? It doesn't take an Air Marshal to know that airplanes shouldn't have fucking gun torrents on them!" Akira's usual composure decomposes as the two of them scoot away from the nearby gunned down area. With the beta tester being the first on their feet, he hurriedly pulls the officer off the floor as the two of them scramble out of the room.

Hearts pumping, heavy breathing, and wobbly legs, the duo lean against the pure white walls of the hallway outside of the hazardous room. The intercom crackles on with the sound of a high-pitch voice, "Attention passengers! This is your Captain speaking, please meet at the movie theater room on the second level! I'm looking forward to meeting you all! Upupupupu..."

"With that kind of fucking laugh, I'm not surprised the fucker has a mounted death machine", Kuzuri remarks and looks at the officer who has a pale look on her face, "Hey Nakashima you alright over there? Don't tell me you're not actually as fit as you look."

Akira blinks with the sound of rapid gunfire slowly echoing in her mind as she shakes her head back into reality to look at her friend, "Huh? Oh, yeah I'm good, just a bit spooked from that jump scare, that's all."

"You and me both."

"Okay how about you head to the theater while I go grab a cup of water for the both of us? I'll meet you there", Akira suggests.

"You sure? I can go with you if you want?" The beta tester looks at the officer with concern.

She waves a hand in dismissal, "Yeah, it's fine. I prefer just myself being late versus the both of us, so you go on ahead!"

Kuzuri looks at Akira one last time before finally nodding and makes his leave to nearby elevators, which the girl never noticed was there until now, "Seriously?", she thinks to herself. She turns to start retracing her steps back to cafeteria, hoping the group there have already left from the announcement.

Opening the double doors belonging to the cafeteria, the officer feels a bit of relief from the sight of no human beings within the space. She goes into the refrigerator in the kitchen and grabs a couple of water bottles. Akira drowns the first amount of water, not realizing how truly dehydrated the girl felt from the light of recent events and troubling thoughts clouding her mind. She tosses the currently emptied bottle into the recycle bin before picking up another one and makes her way up the staircase leading to the second level by the cafeteria. Once she appears on the top step, the officer pulls out her device to check the map on which direction the movie theater is. Reading the screen, she pinpoints the room being at the end of the left hallway.

The officer's travel path pauses at the faint sound of vibrations coming from a glass door four rooms ahead of her. The closer she approaches the source, the more evident the amplified beats of music causing the sounds become. Upon standing in front of the limpid glass door shows the shadow of a figure sitting in front of a studio mixing desk with black puffy headphones on sandy blonde hair that gives the impression of being naturally ruffled. Entering the room, Akira notices the sitting figure to be a guy wearing a simple, red polo t-shirt with matching light grey skinny jeans, complimenting his pale complexion. The shoes resting on the ground are sneakers with a black and grey combination. Walking towards him, it becomes apparent that this room is a recording studio with up to date recording technology. Akira detects another glass barrier when two girls perched on two black cushioned stools are singing into separate microphones appear in sight, both obviously tuned into their recording session.

The girl on the left wears white frilly clothing, providing the symbolism image of innocence and purity to the officer. Her fair skin tone shows from her hands gripping the microphone out of the white, short-sleeved dress she wears. The one piece clothing help shows the visibility of her slender build with some curves around her waist, accompanied by a skirt with the lacey edges of the bottom hem riding above her knees. The vibrant color of pink from a ribbon wrapping around the singer's waist pops out to catch the attention of the viewer. A pair of silver high-heels covered by thin straps rest on top of a lower bar of the stool, bending her legs a bit.

Her face contains a heart shape with small features, her eyes clearly standing out the most to Akira. The officer perceives the different shades of brown evident in her eyes, giving off a warm and welcoming vibe. The outer circle is similar to lightened, milk-chocolate shade with the inner circle contrasting its former with a darker complexion, being a hazelnut brown that covers both irises due to the dark eye pigments. Lengthy blonde bangs reaches the girl's brown eyebrows, but are swept off to the right. From the coloring of the eyebrows, the officer can conclude that the girl's hair was dyed blonde. When she turns her head, seemingly singing to the other girl, it becomes apparent that slight curls occupy her locks with the remaining being a purely straightened style.

As for the girl sitting on the right side of the recording booth, her attire is vastly divergent. A long-sleeve with a black coloring and satiny material covers her top with the back being longer than the front, giving a visual of a flowy and feminine version of a coat-tail. Since the neck has a low-cut, plunging neck, a sleeveless, sea-green top has a higher neck, rimming with sparkles underneath its top. It seems to be made of a soft cotton material as well. Being the undershirt of the overtop, the bottom of the two tucked directly below a dark coloring of charcoal-grey, velvety skirt while the latter is left untucked. The hem of the skirt hits mid-thigh as thick, black tights wraps around the rest of her slightly olive colored legs. Matching the first girl's posture, worker-styled boots that holds a similar color to the undertop is also resting on the lower bar of the stool as well. Sitting on top of her head is a grey hat similar to a fedora with a ribbon tied in a bow around it, the material identical to her skirt. A lengthy, silver necklace hangs below her neck with two pendants in the center, a silver flute and a golden pile of books, resonating the symbolism of music and intelligence.

This girl has mahogany-brown hair that reaches straight down to her elbows. Her fringe is a slightly messier version of a hime-cut, with one of the locks that frames the side of her face plaited and tied at the end, which ties into the side-ponytail that ends up becoming tied to the rest of her hair. With the plaited lock being on the left side of her features, along with the ponytail on the opposing side, the plait enfolds around the back of her head and somewhat across her scalp before descending into the ponytail. With said ponytail, it's being held up with a blue-velvet scrunchie with a variety amount of hair slides in her hair to keep it organized and in place. The pigment mixture of a grey-green appears when she opens her eyes whilst belting out during the chorus of the song they're performing together, her voice resonating with a clear and smooth, almost silvery sound.

After analyzing the appearances of each person, Akira somehow unnoticably walks up to the mixing control panel and randomly presses a button. Of course, the one button she picks ends up emitting a nasty buzzing sound to all three occupants in the studio, mid-song. The man instinctively tosses his headphones on the ground while the two girls accidentally drop their microphones at the sudden jump scare. Surprising royal blue eyes meets attentive green eyes when he turns around to face the officer. What Akira wasn't expecting was how soothing and seductive a voice can be, "Hello my dear officer! My name is Kjartan Johannesen, and I am in your service! May I help you with something?"

"Hey Kjartan, what's going on?", the girl on the right asks with a smoky voice tone with a touch of husky vocals while very feminine at the same time.

"Was our singing _that_ awful they had to send a cop?", the girl on the left lightly teases with a very expressive bright and cheerful tone.

"If she had to stop our singing does that mean we would be...under a rest?", the girl on the right with grey-green eyes playfully nudges the other singer.

It takes everybody a moment or two to process what she meant by her question until the other girl sighs as she chuckles at her own sense of humor. Kjartan grins and presses the studio intercom button to say, "That was a nice one Effie, darling!"

Akira takes the time to realize how great of a vibe the three people share with each other. "Perhaps they had this connection through the love of music either that, or their talents relate to music", the officer wonders. Standing next to the blond man, Akira takes over the intercom by saying, "Hey girls, I'm Officer Akira Nakashima. Did you not hear the captain's announcement?"

The studio group all have a bewilder expression on their faces as they share a look at each other. The girl that goes by "Effie" speaks up, "There was an announcement? Heyo, Sayo did you hear anything?"

"Sayo" shakes her head and so did Kjartan, all three of them turn their attention to Akira, "Okaaay, guess not. Good thing I came here then! But anyways, yeah the captain of this plane said for everyone to meet them at the movie theater room."

"Sorry lovelies, guess we'll pick up this collab when we get back", Kjartan apologies while retrieving the microphone back.

"That's okay! I mean, Apollo got his musical inspiration from the Nine Muses, so maybe we could get ours from our captain's speech to finish up the song? There's only so many airplane lyrics you could put in a song", Effie points out with a touch of optimism in her voice.

"Exactly what I was thinking! Minus the mythological pep talk…", Sayo agrees and the two girls exit the recording booth through the side door.

Sayo appears next to the officer first, followed by Effie who bent down to pick up a walking stick Akira never noticed was leaning against a wall till now. She attempts to not let her staring become too obvious due to the level of sensitivity control the officer needs in her line of work. But, Akira couldn't help but notice the slight limp in her walk the girl possesses with the aid of a walking frame. Before the recording artist could detect the officer looking at her, Akira darts her eyes upwards and turns to meet Sayo's distracted glance instead. Her line of sight follows what the blonde was looking at, which leads to the girl staring intently to the glass door behind the officer and currently focused on fixing her hair with the assistance of its reflection of herself. Once Effie catches up with everyone at the studio's entrance, Kjartan opens the door and waves them through, "Ladies first."

Following a series of appreciative "Thank you" from the girls, the group starts making their way through the hallway to reach the movie theater with Akira and Sayo closely in front of Effie and Kjartan. Being the sociable person she is, Sayo decides to break the comfortable silence, "So, Akira-chan you're an officer. Should I infer that you're the SHSL Police Officer from Hope's Peak Academy?"

"That would be an accurate inference. But this sucks, I can't guess all of you guys' talents that easily!" Akira jokingly complains.

"Kira-chan, should I be offended that you don't know who the Queen is?" Sayo feigns an exaggerated hurt expression while placing a hand on her chest, "Queen of the entertainment industry, I am Sayomi Watanabe, seventeen years old, SHSL Variety Queen. But Sayo-chan is fine."

Sayomi sends a cheeky wink towards the officer.

"Well my dears, might as well purloin my talent since you're announcing everything. I'm the SHSL Radio Host for a reason", Kjartan jokes.

"Johannesen, you're going to be the first to announce Sayo's and I's collaboration on the radio once we get out of here! Mark my words, this song will trending with the most iconic duo singing together", Effie declares with clear determination.

"By the way Effie, what's your talent? It's music related I'm sure", Akira questions.

"I haven't introduced myself have I...You might know me as Hanayo-tan or MUSE Machine from YouTube. Does any of that ring a bell?" After a pause of silence coming from the officer, Effie continues, having had gotten her answer, "In that case, my actual is Euterpe Iizuka, weird name, I know. But surprise, surprise my first name means Muse of Music. But please, make life easier for yourself, just call me Effie. Oh, also I'm the SHSL Youtaite."

"I'm sorry, but you-what? Is that a type of Kryptonite?", the officer genuinely apologizes for her brief ignorance but shoots a dirty look at the snickering radio host and variety queen.

"It's okay, the talent isn't really used a lot but only within the entertainment industry. But it's basically someone who's a music cover artist on Youtube", Effie simply explains.

With a realization coming from an awkward "Oh" from the officer, Akira's passport goes off with three rings, signaling the identification of three more passengers. The officer could take a wild guess at who. She opens up the app and taps on Effie's profile while the other three open theirs to read hers. For some reason, the photo of Effie widely grinning while throwing two peace signs with her fingers didn't surprise the officer, fully knowing her general easy-going nature.

* * *

 _ **Euterpe Iizuka**_

 **Talent: SHSL Youtaite**

 **Age: 17**

 **Birth Date: August 6th**

 **Height: 5'4"**

 **Weight: 125 lbs**

 **Blood Type: A**

 **Likes: Cats, music, and hot chocolate**

 **Dislikes: Milkshakes, dogs, and pranks**

 **Other Notes: Though it would be understandable if she wasn't, Effie is generally comfortable in her own skin, and this shows in her generally breezy nature. She is also big-hearted, and this makes her generally likeable, however she can be rather socially awkward at times too. Also, beware her pun attacks!**

* * *

The officer chuckles at the girl's brief biography before going onto Kjartan's profile. The radio host has an obvious cheerful and smug expression upon his lips, but there was a glint in his eyes that Akira couldn't put her finger on.

* * *

 _ **Kjartan Johannesen**_

 **Talent: SHSL Radio Host**

 **Age: 18**

 **Birth Date: September 28th**

 **Height: 5'9"**

 **Weight: 158 lbs**

 **Blood Type: A**

 **Likes: Popcorn, dubstep, and flirting**

 **Dislikes: Popcorn being stuck in his teeth, bad hygiene, and boring stuff**

 **Other Notes: Kjartan is a successful radio host with fans of both genders. He is overly self confident and flirty. He is a extrovert who love being around other people. He is used to a lot of attention since he is a national celebrity in Norway. Kjartan is quite openminded when it comes to love, having few limits.**

* * *

This causes Akira to wonder if most celebrities had this same mindset when it comes to the power of fame. Speaking of celebrities, the officer finally taps on Sayomi's profile. What greets the observer is the variety queen beaming in the photo that definitely has the evidence of a high level of confidence of oneself, then again perhaps that's a trademark trait celebrities were supposed to automatically inquire.

* * *

 _ **Sayomi Watanabe**_

 **Talent: SHSL Variety Queen**

 **Age: 17**

 **Birth Date: January 12th**

 **Height: 5'3"**

 **Weight: 124 lbs**

 **Blood Type: A+**

 **Likes: Taking selfies, sweets, and J-Pop**

 **Dislikes: Physical labor, insects, and heavy amount of makeup**

 **Other Notes: Sayomi Watanabe is arguably the most successful television star. Her cheerful and charismatic personality, along with her polite attitude and hilarious sense of humour make her a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment industry. She has appeared in dramas and sang her own musical singles, and has earned several fans. She truly is the queen of the entertainment industry.**

* * *

The officer is taken back from the amount of success and fame the studio group has and can't help but feel a bit intimidated from their accomplishments in the entertainment industry. "Maybe there's more than meets the eye", she thinks to herself, promising to interact with these guys and learn their stories that doesn't come from the media.

Glancing up from the screen, Akira didn't realize how far the group has walked considering they're currently standing in front of an opened door.

Peeking inside, the officer notices the room having four rows with five seats per row. A massive blank screen occupies the front of the wall space but also has a wooden stage prepared right below it. A podium is sitting on top of the stage, untouched at the moment. The crew from the cafeteria are already in their seats, various combinations of passengers in different seating arrangement plus six other faces the officer hasn't gotten to meet yet.

Akira takes a deep breath before turning to face the rest of her group.

"Ready?"

* * *

Ayano Igarashi is seen taking the last sip from her freshly brewed coffee from inside the previously visited cafe. After hearing the announcement from the unknown captain, she figures it would be the only rational idea to meet this person to solve her unsolved questions at the moment. Gathering her materials, such as her scribbled calculations on various pieces of paper ranging from notebook paper to napkins with coffee stains. She picks up the empty cups and carries them to the nearest trash bin, properly disposing them one by one.

Holding the last cup in her hold, a dark visual is spotted from the corner of her brown eyes, from the looks of it, apparently lugging something over its shoulders.

The logician turns her head to what she initially thought she had seen, but the hallway appears empty. She rubs her eyes while theorizing that the girl could've sworn someone or something was in the hallway.

Even after the action Ayano stares at the exact same spot, but a moment passes before the logician concludes she is looking at thin air.

Her eyes briefly glances down at the final cup before promptly tossing it into the bin, muttering to herself, "Perhaps I should take the suggestion of reducing my caffeine intake."

* * *

 **...How crazy it is that this chapter managed to be a lowkey intro filler and build up at the same time? Woooaaah. Second set of passengers being introduced, check! Hey guys! Happy Holidays! Bet you weren't expecting me to update before my winter break! Yeah, getting done with my college finals + pretty much exempted from my AP ones clears up my schedule pretty much! Although, my apologies if the ending or really the second half of this seemed a bit rushed. My mind is a bit of a mess at the moment due to the fact that I had to put my Golden Retriever of 9 years down on Sunday night, everything still hurts but at least I know she's not suffering anymore...But anyways enough of the sad stuff, I really wanted to post this for you guys as an early Christmas gift as well!**

 **DRA: FCD: RECAP: Akira leaves the cafeteria group in search of the pilot, along with meeting new passengers along the way! She gets a major surprise upon learning the cockpit seems heavily protected for some reason? Following the incident, the captain of the plane makes an announcement of wanting to meet the passengers!**

 **Regarding last chapter's questions I had...For the FTE, I'm going to have it vary from 3-5 depending on the motive, but at the very least at least 3 per chapter before a murder happens! And for truth bullets, I will be doing that segment from the game as well because idk why I didn't realize till recently that it would make even more sense for a police officer to use truth bullets considering the girl typically carries a legit gun and wants the truth through justice!**

 **1.) Questions for future reference: Would you guys be okay if I do an interlude chapter between certain chapters that would be like the prologues where it's about something that happened before FCD or during FCD but focused on the future foundation/The Tragedy in general? Also, how should the dialogue during trials should look? Should it be like how I would normally write dialogue or in script format where it's like...Akira: No that's wrong!**

 **2.) Questions of the chapter!: As always, how'd you like the chapter in general? Who's your favorite/least favorite out of the newly batch of passengers? Also, has your opinion on any of the cafeteria crew + Akira and Ayano changed in this chapter? Also, what's going on in the ending there with Ayano...Does coffee really make you see things? Hmm.**

 **3.) As always, to the creators of the OCs introduced in this chapter: Lemme know if I wrote them correctly? Do you personally think they got enough screen time or if I need to change or fix anything regarding their character?**

 **4.) Random question: What do you guys think of the cover pic for the story? It's just a temporary one I made to hold the story till we get one of the whole cast!**

 **Also, if I still haven't gotten to your character yet, again don't stress! I promise they will be for sure introduced in the next chapter, I promise! As for the next update, it'll for sure be during winter break considering how lengthy it's gonna be!**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed the second set of character introductions, and that everyone has a nice day/night wherever you are, catch you guys in the next update AKA the final set of introductions and the arrival of our all-time favorite despairing build-a-bear + the very first motive!**

 **P.S: Can you guys give some song recommendations because I am in need of new songs, particularly any pop or bops! Also, virtual high-five if you could spot the three references I used with two of them being from a show and one of them being lyrics from my favorite group!**

* * *

 **Now onto the Reviewer Replies:**

 _ **CandiedStars:** I'm really happy and glad I wrote Setsuka well! She's such a cutie to write with her personality that kinda reminds me a bit of Asahina so I had fun writing her! And truue, Classical Musician is really interesting just by itself plus Crystelle's character in general would make it better!_

 _ **16Doobop13:** Glad to know Nakai is written nicely! Lol, his character gives me a chance to write a jerk of a character and so his character was fun to write! And you have a point with the amount of FTE depending on the complexity of the case tbh...Who isn't a sucker for those logician brainiacs tbh! Haha thank you! I wish you luck on them too!_

 _ **LillyShepard:** I'm glad to know that you've been looking forward to the updates! With different talents comes really different personalities, which is pretty nice to have a variety of! And the suspense is so real with the ending omfg...Hmm, think you just answered your own question on that, lol. And thank you! If anything, the updates would probably have a range of 2-5 weeks at most? So, I don't plan on rushing any of these!_

 _ **TheRoseShadow21:** Yuppers, I'm in my senior aka final year of high school! Yeah, I've seen a lot of stories that would casually drop off the radar and not make it past the prologues? Which is tragic because there's some really good concepts! I'm hoping it won't happen with this one! Everybody has their special moments to show off their personalities a bit here lol. Oh dude that's such a cool concept! So instead of the killing game being told in present tense you could have the survivors have flashbacks? I totally trust you to be able to pull that off because that seems a little tricky to write without spoiling it tbh! Lol, I definitely feel you on that procrastination! Haha thank you!_

 _ **tobi-is-an-artist-too:** The irony of having a supposed elegant person's intro being them hurling produce at someone is real! Yeah, with Etano I wasn't too sure on that scene because I know he has such a laid back personality but hey, on the bright side, everybody has multiple angles of them that could be shown! Puns are life! Ah, okay thanks for giving me that answer! On certain chapters I would definitely up that amount of FTE cause...well. Anyways, oh you're right! Truth bullets are really important for the evidence for a recap! Let the plane shenanigans begin!_

 _ **Katastic Writer:** And so it does begin! Haha thank you, I'm sure I'll need that luck! And ikr? It's crazy how this is only the first third of the cast with 12 more introductions to go! Poor Akira, she definitely a lot to do for the upcoming events...And oh, more like where "isn't" this story going!_

 _ **Kuraziri:** Woohoo, really happy to knew that my mathy words pays off with Ayano! It was really fun writing her and getting a shot in using that! And right? Knowing how to handle people in these situations is extremely helpful lol, but at the same time it could be lowkey bad with that much power...Hmm, wonder what would happen if they even make it to the cockpit? Who knows? Anything connected with Enoshima can only equal despair for some poor soul haha, I just like how this is all happening pre-DR1 so it would be connected with her. And that's a really good point for FTE! I mean, who would want to know all of Akira's secrets within the second chapter when we got about idk 6 or 7 of them to go? And thanks man, can't wait for the last set of introductions and we'll get this story even more on the road...er, air?_

 _ **Mischief Prince:** Yeah, lol I mean who wouldn't want to read a story about people having to kill their own classmates as a stress reliever? Crystelle is definitely a character that's for sure! Initially I was going to have her introduction be kinda normal where her boastfulness was evident but idk how but her being a fruit thrower made more sense! I wanted both Nakai and Crystelle in the same scene because according to my calculations when you have one inflated ego with another inflated ego, something's bound to pop...Akira really is a (lowkey aggressive) cinnabun tbh! And that's really cool that you could actually picture the characters, haha glad to know I could describe them well!_

 _ **RettyL:** Honestly that's rule #1 of DR: Never get attached to any character! Haha, and true! I promise I'm not running off anytime soon, especially when this story hasn't officially started! Lol, those poor souls!_


	8. Chapter One: The Captain's Arrival

**Chapter One** **: The Sky's The Limit:** The Captain's Arrival

 _Akira takes a deep breath before turning to face the rest of her group._

" _Ready?"_

* * *

"Hi there, is this seat taken?"

Light-brown eyes turn to meet welcoming green ones gesturing to the unoccupied seat next to them. They shake their head before placing a lightly olive hand on the upward folding cushion to bring it down for the standing person to sit, he chuckles a with soft-spoken yet slightly high-pitched tone, "I'm quite sure Jasper the Friendly Ghost wouldn't mind you taking his spot, officer, so please sit."

"Not to worry, I have Ghost Hustlers on speed dial otherwise," Akira Nakashima jokes while settling on the black material and offers a handshake, "Thank you for giving me the seat, I'm Akira Nakashima. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Ah, ciao! It is so refreshing to see another face around here! I am Vincenzo Russo, but you may call me Enzo!", he greets while shaking the girl's hand, "That is a really tense grip you have there. Tell me officer, are you stressed?"

"Stressed would be an understatement of how I'm feeling with this situation at hand. Plus, it's kinda a given for my career", she replies along with mindlessly adjusting the hat on top of her head. The officer also seizes the time to analyze her newly founded seat neighbor.

Feathered auburn hair covers his head consisting of a short length with parted bangs in the front. A white, button-up jacket covers his upper body as the fabric on the rolled-up sleeves creases every time he leans on the arm rest. Underneath the jacket is a purely clean matching color undershirt. His bottoms are khakis as the pant length that hovers above black shoes.

"Si, si! I would be more than happy to help! Allow me give you one of my famous massages to relax those muscles", Enzo offers but the officer quickly recoils and scoots away from him, raising an eyebrow.

"No offense, you seem like a nice guy and all, but shouldn't you take me out for dinner first?", Akira half-heartedly jokes.

The guy promptly waves his hands as a sign of misunderstanding, "No, no, no mi amica. I'm the Super High School Level Massage Therapist from Hope's Peak Academy."

"Haven't heard that pick-up line before", Akira briefly reminisces the amount of times somebody have attempted to hit on the officer during her experience in the law enforcement. She shakes her head before a familiar voice comes from the seat behind.

"He's actually telling the truth, Kira-chan, his hands were as smooth as the ice I skate on." The officer turns around in her seat to notice the relaxing facial features of the SHSL Figure Skater with a new face next to them.

"Oh hey Aihara-san!", Akira waves to them, "...Wait, you actually let this guy massage you?"

"Well, you guys were taking your sweet time getting here and the captain isn't here yet. Also, getting a massage before you practice or work out would help you have a longer stamina, so I'll take anything that could help!" Setsuka Aihara defends herself.

The ring coming from the officer's device signals her to test her suspicions on the young man. Upon opening his profile, a small smile on Enzo's face is the first to greet the viewer before reading the information that follows.

* * *

 _ **Vincenzo Russo**_

 **Talent: SHSL Massage Therapist**

 **Age: 17**

 **Birth Date: October 9th**

 **Height: 5'8"**

 **Weight: 145 lbs**

 **Blood Type: A+**

 **Likes: Conversations, pleasant scents, and cooking**

 **Dislikes: Violence, the sight of blood, and overly greasy food**

 **Other Notes: Enzo appears to be a sweet guy who wants nothing more than to help others relax with a touch of his hands. He tries to stay positive and keep a bright smile on his face. However, he is an open book when it comes to being scared easily and does not like any sign of violence.**

* * *

"Alright Magic Fingers Russo, let's test your talent. But no funny business or else this plane won't be the only thing flying." The officer playfully warns while beginning to unbutton and take off the uniformed blouse, revealing a fitting white tank top underneath. The girl neatly folds the top before placing it on her lap, she then contorts herself sideways to have lightly-colored, olive legs dangle over the unbusy arm rest next to the aisle. Akira brings the ombred hair to the front, leaving no sign of strands on the back. Upon hearing the sound of fabric shuffling around, she cranes her head enough to catch a glimpse of Enzo pulling out a lavender scented massage oil from his jacket pocket, "Do you always casually carry massage oils on the go?"

"Mi amica, do _you_ always casually carry bullets on the go?"

Akira clicks her tongue, "Touché."

Inceptive tensed shoulders progressively relax at the compelling touch of the massage therapist. As Enzo works his hands in a circular motion on the girl's bare skin, Akira cocks her head to the side to catch up with her ice skating friend, "How was the cafeteria crew while I was gone?"

The skater's blue eyes briefly flicker towards the last row with Nakai Ocha sitting on the leftmost seat near the aisle, boasting about his tea brewing accomplishments to an uninterested Kotarou Nakatsu next to him. The electrician's inner thoughts unconsciously regretting the decision to unbind and peel off the brewer's previous restrictions. An empty chair centers the middle of the row with Ayano Igarashi adjacent to it, who currently has a pencil tucked behind her ear while feverishly scribbling in a pastel colored notebook on her lap. Akira makes a mental note to ask about the logician's well-being later, considering the girl appears more stressed than usual for some reason.

On the rightmost edge of the third row, Etano Meleah is seen discreetly not paying attention to Crystelle Valliere's various complaints next to the surfer, "They were fine. But, something tells me that they don't exactly agree with your...methods. Namely Nakatsu-san from how you handled the cafeteria situation."

"That guy has always been doubting me from the start, so no surprise there. As long as it does its job, then it's not my problem if he doesn't agree with my tactics", Akira scoffs, "...But, thanks for the heads up." The officer provides a lazy thumbs up at which Setsuka smiles.

The skater then taps on the shoulder of the person left to her, snapping them out of a mindless trance of adjusting paint brush, pencil, rubber band, and ruler within their pocket of a striped green and purple sweater. Matching green eyes focus on Akira's facial features for a moment seemingly developing a quick impression on the girl, while simultaneously tucking dark brown hair behind their ears, "Ah, so this is _the_ Akira Nakashima you've been speaking of, no?", they ask a tad slowly with a Southern French accent evident in their voice.

"I'm hoping you heard of _only_ good things of me?" Akira jokes.

'Oui, oui your friend has spoke of nice thing about you officer. Greetings! Je m'appelle Septembre!", they laugh with quite a low chuckle, "My name is actually September Simon. Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine. So, Simon-san, what's your talent? It seems having a talent and coming from Hope's Peak Academy is a common pattern of everyone here", the officer extrapolates from previous encounters of the other passengers. Moreover, the girl takes the time to examine her new friend's appearance a bit deeper.

Broad shoulders is apparent underneath the striped sweater that is connecting to the remaining lightly brown, average body structure of the person. Stunted hair with a dark brown color has a fringe hanging over their ears. The bottom strands reaches to the bottom of their neck. Blue shorts accompany their top along with white knee socks and navy trainers acting as the shoes. If it wasn't for their matching eye color, the officer would've noticed September wearing glasses with a very feline appearance. The ends of the viewing object are attached to a chain around their neck seemingly securing the glasses in place.

"I'm the Super High School Level Cartographer! But even I can't make a map of your eyes." They awkwardly cough upon realizing the officer and them have identical eye coloring, "Pourquoi ai-je dit cela..."

Akira and Setsuka blink.

The officer's device goes off, relatively easing the sudden turn of tone. She taps on the all too familiar app that pulls up the Cartographer's profile and photo. September's eyes would be the ultimate salient feature of the appearance if it wasn't for the striped sweater and their soft smile.

* * *

 _ **September Simon**_

 **Talent: SHSL Cartographer**

 **Age: 18**

 **Birth Date: October 30th**

 **Height: 5'5"**

 **Weight: 129 lbs**

 **Blood Type: AB**

 **Likes: Shakespearian, piano music, and the spring season**

 **Dislikes: English, winter, and vampires**

 **Other Notes: September is a perfectionist with a talent for making perfect maps. They care deeply for their friends and will sass anyone in their native language who messes with their friends. They also make horrible jokes quite frequently with their friends.**

* * *

"Oh, thanks...I think. Heh, I don't know any French but I _do_ know a bit of Spanish", the officer attempts to diffuse the awkward atmosphere due to neither of the two having prior knowledge in the European language.

Setsuka questions the other girl, "Kira-chan, why would you need to learn Spanish in Hiroshima…?"

"It's better to have a multilingual cop than a monolingual one, is it not?" The officer pauses before suddenly speaking at a fast mumble, "...PlusIwastryingtoimpressmyex."

"What was that mon amie?", the cartographer may have cat eyes but not the animal's sensible hearing.

"Nothing." The officer waves off the question to transition onto a more important topic, "Have any of you guys seen the captain yet?"

The cartographer and figure skater shake their heads in response.

"You and your group were the last passengers to arrive, but the captain hasn't even shown up yet, talk about _real_ professionalism for someone with a high status," Setsuka remarks.

Speaking of the mention of the officer's previous group, Akira tilts her head to peek at the trio with the celebrity statuses sitting on the fourth row out of the five. Kjartan Johannesen is seen nearest to the left aisle, listening intently to the two girls next to him and provides input towards the conversation every now and then. One of the girls, Sayomi Watanabe, is adjusting and checking on her hair from the tinting reflection of the e-Passport next to the radio host and Youtaite. She pays attention to the other two, but seems a bit more perplexed on herself as well. "Effie" Iizuka continuously rambles about ideas for future collaborations with the variety queen through her naturally sanguine tone and attitude. Next to her is a young man wearing dark purple hair borderlining the color black, along with evident black, half framed spectacles made from a plastic material that discreetly hides his eyes from the distance. He doesn't meet the Akira's intended gaze due to his eyes being focused on fidgeting with an object on his wrist.

On the left half of the third row, Santiago Lopez sounds like a human representation of a rotating vinyl record due to repeatedly apologizing for his neighbor's lewd comments every other minute. The basketball player lets out a sigh every time Eclair Stuart has an inappropriate outburst directed to the other passengers. He was tempted to ask Kotarou for a strip of tape to shut her mouth, but last minute decided against it knowing the surgeon would have a field day from having a mind in the gutter.

For the second row, a girl dressed in what appears to be congruent to a male ninja uniform with straightened, lengthy obsidian-black hair chats with Kuzuri Inamine, his back turned away from September and Setsuka. The beta tester is fully immersed with the girl's passion for the Japanese culture, occasionally letting out a swift curse word when she mentions a surprising traditional fact.

As for the front row where the officer currently sits, Akira spots two girls she hasn't had the time to introduce herself to. The one next to Enzo stares at the blank screen up ahead with pure hazel eyes in complete silence, she dusts the black shirt holding a pentagram. On the opposing side of the row, the other girl isn't quite as patient as the former. She narrows her violet-colored eyes before hastily removing herself from the seat. Maybe it was the optical illusion of the officer's eyesight deceiving her, but the girl comes across as being beyond shorter and smaller than the average height.

Despite the shortness of her build, a curvy body accompanies it with her hips acting as broad as the shoulders. An oval shaped facial structure for both her face and eyes is evident by the overall layering of her hair. Hanging on her small pair of ears is authentic diamond earrings with a black choker wrapping around her small yet long, pale neck. If it wasn't for Akira squinting her eyes for a closer look, she would've missed the subtle heart shaped birthmark underneath the girl's right eye.

A black sunhat with a dark-purple bow sits on top of the girl's head covering a braided bun with coloring that initially appears black but upon further inspection, it turns out to be a very dark blue. The officer assumes the locks would reach her taille if left down as well.

The bottom hem of an indigo maxidress sways as she makes her way to the entrance door of the movie theater. The dress consists of a halter top with a belt around the taille with fake diamonds on it. The mahogany carpet muffles the clacking sound of the black heels with a height of two inches, although the extra elevation still makes the girl have a shorter image compared to the other female passengers. Before reaching for the golden handle of the door, she glances at the empty podium one last time before announcing with a surprising soft and dulcet tone, "I am Shiori Beauforte, Super Highschool Level Violinist and heiress of the Beauforte hotels. How dare that filthy vermin of a captain not even show up on time when I could be perfecting my art?!"

Right as the violinist places her left hand on the door handle, the officer's e-Passport goes off upon her announcement. Since she was too caught up in the demanding girl's composure at the moment, the sound causes her to jump in the seat, accidentally bumping off Enzo's massaging hands. Akira promptly apologizes and briefly compliments the massage therapist for his handy work before opening her device. Sure enough, Shiori's profile and photo pops up on screen. The officer thinks of the large gap between the seemingly elegant and sophisticated violinist appears from the picture compared to her actual actions in person as she reads her information.

* * *

 _ **Shiori Beauforte**_

 **Talent: SHSL Violinist**

 **Age: 18**

 **Birth Date: September 9th**

 **Height: 4'7"**

 **Weight: 99 lbs**

 **Blood Type: AB**

 **Likes: France, cupcakes, and the violin**

 **Dislikes: Chaos, rock music, and the violin**

 **Other Notes: Shiori is a sharp-tongued blunt girl with a superiority complex. The violinist is a no-nonsense girl who doesn't like beating around the bush. She often voices out her opinion or expressed her own thoughts before considering how they could affect other people.**

* * *

As soon as Shiori tugs on the door handle, a metal gate comes storming down from the doorframe. Luckily, the violinist's sharp hearing catches the sound of the banging barrier as she quickly jumps back, narrowly dodging a brutal demise, "Ce qui la baise?!"

Every passenger felt the same jump in their bones as everyone's eyes widen at the sudden encounter.

"Ahem, it would be wise to return to your seat, Ms. Beauforte", a high-pitch voice makes its presence from a speaker up above. The violinist turns around and trudges back to her seat, cracking her fingers in irritation while grumbling French swear words under her breath. The mysterious voice; whom Akira assumes is the captain, clears their throat before continuing, "...With that settled, hey there, howdy, hello! Is all the passengers here? Good! Let's get things rolling...or flying!"

Suddenly an animal, or _something_ Akira has never witnessed before jumps up from within the podium. It fails its arms midair before landing on top of the wooden object, confusing and causing a bewilder expression to appear on majority of the passengers' faces. The first question that comes out of the officer's mouth is, "...Usually bombs don't talk, so what the hell is that _thing_?!"

The talkative thing has an appearance of a bear with its whole body and face divided by the center into two halves. Resting on top of its head is a navy blue pilot hat with white trim piping. Completing the authentic look is a gold band above the black vinyl bill with novelty branded pilot wing decal. Its right side bears a pure white coloring with a typical, circular black eye from an innocent teddy bear. As for the opposite side, it's covered in black with a red horizontal messy lightning bolt stripe for an eye showcasing a sinister smile, giving off an ominous appearance overall. Both its snout and belly remains white, not affected by the division of the monochrome coloring. A large "X" covers the navel of its belly button on top of its circular belly shape as well.

"Oh my god, who knew Pinnie the Wooh had a fucked up cousin?!", Kuzuri comments.

"Maybe...Maybe it's a teddy bear?", Setsuka innocently questions.

"Yeah definitely...A teddy bear from your nightmares that is!" Santiago adds on.

"I'm not a teddy bear!", the bear feigns an offended tone before continuing, "I...am...Monokuma! And I am this plane's captain!"

"Is it even legal for a bear to fly a plane, Akira-chan?", Sayomi glances skeptically towards the front row where the officer sits. The variety queen has seen and been part of questionable segments on national television programs, but this situation definitely transcends them.

"I...I don't know? If only I was the SHSL Air Marshal instead of police officer…", Akira answers back, remaining insanely confused about this whole ideal unfolding in front of her.

"Nice to meet you all!", Monokuma greets with such a bright and laidback attitude, as if he was something the passengers see everyday. With the appearance of him plus the lack of information containing the missing plane tickets and everybody not knowing why they're on the aircraft in the first place, all these questions continously swirl in the officer's mind that seems to keep piling up. It isn't evident on Akira's facial expressions due to having experience of not showing fear or anxiety for her profession, but that doesn't mean she isn't carrying it in the inside.

"Whoaaaaaah! That teddy bear actually talks!", Etano lets out a long drawl.

"Calm down darlings! I'm sure there's a speaker inside its stuffing like normal teddy bears. I mean, who wouldn't want to carry my voice with them everywhere…?", Kjartan attempts to diffuse the situation with a lighthearted joke.

"How many times do I gotta tell ya?! I'm not a teddy bear...I'm Monokuma! And I'm your captain!", the bear exclaims while it raises his arms above its head.

"Oh dear lord the plush toy punctuated his speech with wild gesticulation including mobile movements!", Crystelle butts in.

"Calm down lads! Coming from an electrician, it's most probable that the bear is remote controlled from the Air Route Traffic Control Center. The airlines simply ran out of pilots, so they equipped the bear on here to fly the plane to our destination on auto-pilot", Kotarou reasons.

"How dare you compare me to those simpletons with the flying steering wheels? That hurts", Monokuma pouts while looking down at the ground, his paws behind its back," My functionality is so complex and composite that even the folks over at NASA or Secret Service can't replicate or comprehend me! I'm _that_ unique and one of a kind! But don't make me have to explain that again, it gets overBEARing" Monokuma switches expressions into a flowering one.

"Ooooh, I feel like if you say that pun again...The gods will punish you! So please shut the fuck up!", the ninja outfit wearing girl from the front row remarks with a tone that initially starts off as playful but escalates into a harsh one.

"Over... _bear..._ ing. By gods, you have to admit that even my puns aren't that horrible... _fur_ sure", Effie comments with a brief silence that follows before everyone in the theater sighs while she nervously chuckles.

"...Moving on! Let's get down to business, first we'll talk a bit of how your flight life here will be like. You few talented passengers are so full of potential that represents the hope of the world and universe, don't get me wrong. In order to protect the world's hope...you all will have to live a communal life together solely within the metallic confinement that is this plane! With my amazing piloting skills, no one could target us from the skies without having the need to land! Everyone will live in harmony...some should _try_ to sing in harmony…", Monokuma darts his black eye towards the variety queen and Youtaite who simultaneously roll their eyes in response, "...and adhere to the rules and regulations of the flight."

"Wait, what? Shouldn't the rules be common sen-", September starts only to be interrupted.

"Ah, now then...Regarding the time of arrival at our final destination...There isn't one! Basically, you'll all be here until the day you all die! Consider this as your first and final school assignment kiddos!", Monokuma announces with an arm in the air, signaling importance.

"What did we do to deserve this? Nobody has the time to deal with this!", the young man from the fourth row finally speaks. Although in his mind he seems more worried about other daunting thoughts that the purple haired boy considers more significant than the event starting to unfold.

"For once I would like for one of you simpletons to tell me that my hearing has been misinformed, because my acute sense of sound heard him say...until the day we die…?", Shiori openly challenges.

"Oh, but fear not my precious little passengers! We have quite an unlimited source of budget, so you won't ever lack any common conveniences such as food, water, power, equipment, etc…", Monokuma ignores the violinist.

"Sorry, but shouldn't that be the least of our worries now?…", the pentagram wearing girl from the first row speaks up, only for her voice to come out as a very soft and low tone that is more of a whisper. With her being close proximity of the officer, Akira was able to hear the girl and pick up where she left off.

"She's right. I know for a fact that kidnapping and keeping us as prisoners is against the law! Once we land, you're going away for a long time Monokuma!", Akira sounds off.

"Oh, you _would_ know about breaking the rules, wouldn't you Officer Nakashima? How ironic, considering you nearly broke the same one twice within not even a day!", Monokuma raises one hand with a single sharp claw gleaming from the light and holds it close to the officer's face, "...You're lucky you didn't kick down my door the first time and jumped away from the terminal the second time. Otherwise you would've been in a whole lot of trouble missy!"

He retracts his claw and places both paws on his face as he slyly giggles, "Speaking of rules...I guess I did forget to mention one thing. There is _one_ way for you to leave the plane. Oh, before we get to that, as part of the rules, let's make sure nobody here is an idiot enough to try to hurt their beloved captain!"

As soon as Monokuma claps his paws together, metal clamps instantly appear from each passenger's armrests and pin their forearms down to the armrests. Another set of clamps shoot out from the carpet to clasp around everyone's ankles onto the chair's legs. The final touches is a singular massive bar popping out of the carpet a couple feet ahead of the feet clamps and harshly throws their backs against the seat, constricting the passengers' torsos, making it impossible for them to leave their spot, or have any type of limb movement for that matter.

"I am so sick and tired of being restrained!", Nakai yells.

"Nice to know you definitely wouldn't be fun in bed", Eclair manages to snicker, seeming to actually enjoy the sudden interaction.

There was a certainty of an unity of various swear words and insults coming from the distressed passengers directed to the sadistic bear. The officer struggles to free herself rushing the memories of her handy handcuff tricks in the mind, but none of them seems to be working against metallic restrictions as large as these clamps. Everybody helplessly attempts to wiggle, squirm, and even contort their bodies in any way for freedom, but to no avail. In a room full of defeated heavy breaths, Monokuma seems to somehow appear with an even more menacing smile than before.

"...By jumping out of the plane while praying?", Etano breaks the silence with a tired thought.

"You could...if you want to drop from an altitude of 40,000 feet into the ocean that is!" Monokuma sinisterly laughs.

"According to my calculations, with no parachute support to help with wind and air resistance...It's highly probably you would break your neck and spine upon making impact with the water", Ayano concludes while vastly upset at herself for not being able to calculate an escape mechanism out of the restrains.

"Yeah, yeah, nobody cares about numbers, mathy McDork face!", the bear waves off the logician before continuing, "...As I was saying before being rudely interrupted by Point Break wannabe over there. As captain of the plane, I've created a _special_ rule for those of you who would like to depart! In those tiny brain cells of yours, do you remember when I mentioned that in order to maintain a harmonic environment, we need to have a communal lifestyle?", he pauses to see if anyone would respond to that rhetorical question but the bear was only met with nineteen various death and icy glares, "...And if someone were to _disrupt_ that harmony, they alone could depart from the flight."

"Disrupting harmony has many definitions when it comes to the law Monokuma, you're going to have to be more specific", Akira struggles against her restraints, emerald green eyes narrowing at the bear.

"Eager aren't we officer? Well, considering your talent, I wouldn't put it past you to not like it one bit", Monokuma ominously teases.

"What's that supposed to mean?", the officer asks before the bear continues on, happy to oblige her try at a counterargument.

"Puhuhu...Well, you know...If one person were to murder another."

Everybody shares a look with each other in disbelief.

"Stabbing, strangling, crushing, drowning, injecting, hell, pushing someone out of the plane for all I care, how you do it doesn't matter. You must kill someone if you want to leave. It's as simple as saying your ABC's. The rest is up to you. Give it your all to achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible! You guys certainly _are_ the hope of the future, now taking that hope and having it crushed by the depths of true desperation would craft a penumbra of despair to follow. What a pity. An audacity for human nature you could say. And...it's just so...exciting! Exhilarating! Jubilant! You name it!" Monokuma places his paws on top of his belly while tossing his head back, cackling in a wicked manner. His red eye lights up in a taunting beam never seen before, signaling how danger seems to lurk around the colored lambent.

The officer shakes her head in incredulity and becomes the first to speak up, "What the hell are you talking about you deranged stuffed animal?! Nobody's dumb enough to pull that when we clearly know it's AGAINST the law! Everybody knows that murder while being kidnapped in this situation is considered as a capital offense! Besides, to kill each other...it's...it's just not right!"

"Yeah, what Akira said! I refuse to partake in this! Besides, who do you think you are, Zeus? Or a carbon copy of him that is, because, Zeus called, he said he wants his lighting bolt back from your face!", Effie sets up her determination to resist.

The long haired classical musician has numerous thoughts running through her mind such as, "Killing? But there was enough killing going on in the real world so why did this crazed bear also want to start something like that...? This...can't be happening, can it? Well-there was enough killing going on outside so it would be plausible for more killing...Right?" Crystelle keeps her eyes on the stuffed animal and takes a breath in. Closing her fists within the small metal confinement around the wrists, she glances around at her fellow students without saying a word, "Why..."

"This is way too dire to actually be real, like come on guys, clearly this is a prank by the upperclassmen of Hope's Peak Academy trying to scare us. You can knock it off now, we get it!", Setsuka nervously talks.

"You seem right on the ball figure skater! This is obviously some kind of a reality show! I mean who wouldn't watch good looking people panic in belief that they must kill each other? I definitely would." Even after being shackled down, Kjartan attempts to smooth talk his way out of this undying tension.

"Eh?" Monokuma tilts his head in curiosity while putting his white paw up against his mouth.

"You bastard, you got us, okay? Obviously this merde isn't real because if it were, it would've had a better fucking set-up! I mean, who the hell would conduct a killing game within a PLANE? There's limited mobility and a merde amount of space for anyone to really do anything here! If anything, why be so damn complicated and do this game in a plane when Hope's Peak Academy itself would seem more fucking ideal?", September earns numerous strange glances from their fellow passengers as they verbally pick apart the system and manages to replace it with a better hypothetical killing game.

"A better...killing...game? Puhuhu, you'll see soon enough kiddos! Now then, lastly...To accompany your joyous flight, on our plane, I have two gifts for you…", Monokuma giggles before disappearing into the stage, letting the intercom take over, "To kick off how _serious_ this game is, here's your first motive to kick it off! Roll the film!"

The room gradually becomes dark when the lights flicker off, causing everyone to focus on the screen with projected footage being shown.

Akira Nakashima can sense the tears beginning to brim the side of her eyes upon the poignant scene unraveling, an all too familiar sensation of emotions flooding her memories.

"Kiki-chan help! Pl-please!"

The footage being shown is a young, teenage girl bearing a striking resemblance to the officer in terms of appearance, along with their shrieking voice hitting Akira with a nostalgic wave of personal familiarity. The girl on screen is sitting on a creaking wooden chair with a black blindfold tightly wrapped around her head, preventing any potential viewing of the location. When the officer squints, the subtle discoloration of the skin on her face indicates evident prior bruising along the cheeks. Her hands are bounded by rough intertwining rope behind the chair, with the feet tied with the legs of the chair as well. The space itself reminds the officer of the typical torture room with a dimly lit light bulb dangling from above and a dirty, earthy coloring on the walls. A person wearing a monokuma helmet stands next to the younger Nakashima, a gloved hand on top of the silver tray placed on top of a cart. A few moments pass before they pick up a black stun baton and presses the button before shoving it onto the girl torso, sending electrifying waves of bolts into her body, she clenches her teeth but can't help but let out an agonizing scream, "AAARGH!"

Once the torturer releases their hold on the girl, she was left in place gasping and wheezing for clean air, only to be fulfilled by the musky atmosphere instead, "B-big sis...A-Akira...P-please give...them...wh-what they...want…".

Soon after, the shock exhausted the younger Nakashima to the point of passing out as her entire body shuts down and everything goes momentarily limp. At this point the officer ignores the streaming tears running down her face while she furiously attempts to yank herself out of the seated shackles, seemingly callous to the thought of breaking her own bones in order to potentially save her sister.

"Wonder how would Reina Nakashima react when she realizes that her not-so invincible and heroic big sister isn't there to rescue her anytime soon...How despairing", Monokuma ridicules the officer.

"I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU MONOKUMA!", Akira loudly declares with emotions running high, striving to seem threatening but falls flat when her voice cracks throughout the proclamation.

"No, no, no, did you not understand the rules you water works of an imbecile? You're supposed to kill one of the _passengers_ to save your sweet, innocent sister", the bear counters, tempting the girl who only violently shakes her head in response.

Grunts from the officer struggling in her seat was only heard apart from consolations given by her close peers to try calming her down. As while the footage fades to black as it transitions to the another passenger's loved one appearing on screen, exactly in the identical scenario Akira's younger sister was in.

Various reactions of the passengers were provoked from the following screenings after the officer's, whether they ended up loss for words, crying, shouting, creating threats, or battling the shackles, Monokuma was genuinely relishing in the distinguished agony evident in these teens called despair. Once the last pleading video was over, the bear jumps out from the podium once more before rubbing his paws together while saying, "Wowzies, that was some suspense going on there! What a shame the films end on such a cliffhanger! Who knows what the ending would truly be? Luckily it's not just a one-time screening!"

Nineteen pairs of angered eyes form scowls at him while maintaining a glint of curiosity of what he meant, so Monokuma continues his statement, "That my lovelies, was just a preview of what's to come for the motive! Every two hours, an update video will play on your e-Passports for your enjoyment! I know what you're all thinking, "What if I lose my e-Passport because I'm such a large doof?" Well kiddos, there's monitors wherever you go, so even if you're not with your passport, you still wouldn't miss the show on the go! It's up to you if you want these videos to stop and to find out what happens to your loved ones! Also, probably should mention this is currently being broadcasted on live television whoopsies!"

Monokuma twirls his black hand in continuation, "Consider this second gift as the end credits...I don't care what you do with it, honestly it was such a nuisance in the beginning. Well, this concludes our first flight meeting! Please enjoy your harmonious plane life! And...see ya!"

And with that, he clapped his hands and the metal restraints retracts back into the carpet and armrests as if they never existed in the first place, along with Monokuma suddenly disappearing, leaving everyone in diversing stages of shock.

The officer can sense eighteen pairs of eyes intently watching for her next movement and course of action of the situation, so Akira stands up from her seat to face the rest of the passengers.

"So, guys…", she begins, but her hoarse voice halts at the sight of the currently blank screen lifting upwards from the corner of her eyes.

Akira turns to catch the sight of a fairly tanned girl who appears with a ragged appearance stumbling as she travels across the wooden stage. The new person seems older than the rest of them from her facial features and overall mature body structure, lifeless and helpless oceanic blue eyes accompanies the purely light, auburn-brown hair she wears in a messy low ponytail. An originally sleek umber-colored aviator jacket is now saliently in tatters, as if the girl had put up a fight the officer thinks to herself.

The girl's helpless and lifeless, oceanic blue eyes glances at the officer's widen green ones, she weakly utters, "Help me" before fully collapsing on the wooden stage.

* * *

 **...Did that just happen? Woah now the show is really hitting the road, er, sky in this case! Hey guys! Happy Holidays and Merry belated Christmas!**

 **Okay, okay, I know I said last chapter that I would finish up introductions on this update but y'know if you're reading this you know how lengthy this update was in general and this was 3 characters + Monokuma's intro + the first motive. I was going to do 6 characters but then I realized how insanely dense this update would've been if I did so, that's why I decided to cut it in half! Plus, I didn't want to do all OC intro before Monokuma because then there's only so many ways to do different ones within a movie theater without sounding repetitive about it, like I wanted to continue doing it like I had been like the last two updates where you're meeting new people but the plot is also moving at the same time, so it isn't like how everything suddenly pauses and you just meet the new people who say a couple of lines before moving onto the next one and so on, if that makes sense (basically DR1 intros). Plus, I wanted the main focus of this update being Monokuma coming in along with the first motive!**

 **Now, I know for sure I will finish up introductions on the next update as while giving the newly introduced characters in this update a bit more screentime in the update as well because I lowkey feel like they didn't have enough in this one. Speaking of updating for the next chapter, it'll most likely happen sometime next week since for all I got for Christmas was the flu, so my head's lowkey pounding at the moment finishing this up and the fact it's almost 5AM probably isn't helping as well, lol.**

 **DRA: FCD: RECAP: Akira and the celebrity group arrives at the movie theater room where all the passengers finally get the meet the captain of the plane, AKA Monokuma, only to realize they're being tossed into a killing game among each other with a heartbreaking first motive involving their loved ones! Also, a familiar face returns at the end, seemingly been through a lot of stuff…**

 **Regarding last chapter's questions I had...I will most certainly be making interludes for this story that will appear after the trials are over and/or during a chapter depending on a significant event happening! I would say each chapter would have one or two interludes containing either Pre-FCD fluff with the 76th class in general or having a perspective of HPA or Future Foundation considering everything in the DR timeline is still canon minus the fact that this story is being the second official mutual killing game and is happening prior to DR1's. Trial dialogue has been decided to remain the same as the regular dialogue I've been writing since it seems you guys seem so damn confident in my skills to write them, haha! Now without further ado…**

 **1.) QFFR: When does Future Foundation exactly form in DR? Like I know it's during the Tragedy, but how long did the Tragedy happen before Tengan created FF? Considering this story occurs about towards the end of DR3's Despair Arc, I'm wondering how I would do the interludes for that in case. Also, should we do the debates thing just like in NDV3 where it's two teams arguing against each other on a topic into the trial? Hmm, I'll have to do a bit on research on that whenever the game actually comes out but I just liked the general idea of consistently having two sides arguing about certain topics during the trial with Akira leading on side and an opposing character leading the other...Idk lemme know what you guys think of that idea!**

 **2.) QOTC: As always, how'd you like the chapter in general? Who's your favorite/least favorite out of the three newly introduced passengers? Has your opinion on any of the prior introduced ones changed at all? What do you think of the very first motive of the game? I just liked how all of these motives I have planned out aren't obviously specifically targeted to just one character *cough* DR1's third motive with Celeste *cough*. Lastly, what's your reaction to our seemingly familiar face making their return to the story?**

 **3.) As always, OCs creators of the characters introduced in this chapter, lemme know how I did with them!**

 **4.) Not really a question but more like shoutouts: First one I want to give to _TheRoseShadow21_ for drawing these four amazing cast pictures of Akira, Crystelle, Effie, and Kuzuri! I personally think they look really awesome and I could see them appearing in that way as well, because I'm the type of person that no matter how fluffy I make descriptions, it's just better for me to see them visually in drawing format to see how they would honestly look, so you really did a great job with that, I definitely give you props for taking the time and effort in creating those, which I forever deeply appreciate! If anyone plans on doing cast art as well, be sure to hit me up because it's just so nice to see these guys come to life, visually! Of course this is completely optional! Also links to see these amazing pics she drew is currently on my profile, so go check them out!**

 **The second shoutout is kinda more like a promo kind of thing but anyways, ya girl is one of the helpers for _DanganRonpa: World War_ by _mpjindustries_! So, it would be really lit if you guys were to submit an OC over that way as well because I know you guys are fully capable of creating amazing OCs as you did for my story! I'll be one of the people looking over the apps for that story so I'm pretty sure to have confidence in finding some amazing ones from you guys as well!**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed (lmfao the passengers sure aren't) this third and a half set of character introductions, plus the arrival of Monokuma kick starting the game with the first motive, and that everyone has a nice day/night wherever you are, catch you guys in the next update AKA the second half of the final introductions along with a bit of exploration of the plane!**

 **P.S: I can't believe this is the last time I'm updating this story in 2016! Haha, happy early New Years in that case! Also, has anyone played The Walking Dead Game Season 3's episode one and two from Telltales? Because holy craaap that was something alright! Also, also a bit of Akira's flaws are gradually becoming evident, I'm enjoying writing her slip ups that would end up connecting in the long run...And geez, the more I write these characters, the harder it really is to having to decide who to kill off! Finally, I won't be doing reviewer replies on here anymore since I didn't realize how much space they take up, so I'll be replying to them via PMs for now on unless it's a guest review then I'll reply on here! Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go take some meds and pass tf out...**

 **Fun Fact: Crystelle's iconic fruit throwing introduction was based off a true story of when one of my older brothers was a cashier at a grocery store and he had this lady that was so stuck on being correct about some sales about apples, yeah no turns out she wasn't...So, when he proved her wrong with proof...she just hurled the apples she picked at him! I mean, at least he had fast reflexes to catch them all!**


	9. Chapter One: Preparation of Exploration

**Chapter One** **: The Sky's The Limit:** Preparation for Exploration

 _The girl's helpless and lifeless, oceanic blue eyes glances at the officer's widen green ones, she weakly utters, "Help me" before fully collapsing on the wooden stage._

* * *

A figure sleeps underneath a comforting blanket with a white to black transition patterning on top of a softening thin and narrow mattress. Disheveling brown locks tussle to the side of their face when they unconsciously adjust and apply pressure to the hips. Stimulation of pain from the nerves bolt through the person's body, causing them to have a galvanizing awakening. Abruptly opening their eyes, an overwhelming luminosity of eggshell white from the surroundings indirectly stuns the oceanic blue irises, provoking its owner into squinting the eyelids.

"Hey, hey take it easy. Let's try not to add on your…" a speaker lets out a tired yawn before continuing,"... _collection_ going on there."

The bed occupant looks down to see another person drowsily jolt from evident napping as they quickly stands up. They feverishly yet gently place a hand on their chest to push them back against the upward surface. The brunette lifts a portion of solid black fabric of the tank top resting on her hip to examine a multitude of hues of colors that wouldn't normally appear on a person's skin. Tracing the garish purple markings that were the size of a human fist, her eyes shut for a brief moment as she takes a sharp breath from accidentally applying pressure to one of the many physical wounds upon the body. A cast of concern comes from the other occupant when they catch a glimpse of them wincing, causes them to wonder, " _What the hell have they been through to get here?"._

"Wh...where am I?", the brunette's voice comes out as a hoarse whisper with a rasp as she attempts to finish her thoughts, "...And, who are you?"

The other person doesn't respond but instead proceeds to lean their face closer and a pair of green eyes stare intently into the brunette's, seemingly searching for something to comment on, "Okay good news, your pupils aren't restricted anymore."

The girl watches as the apparent analyzer straightens themselves out and walks to the nearby marbleizing countertop to pick up an unopened water bottle. They briskly unscrew the cap and hands it over, which the brunette graciously accepts before managing to gulp down half of its contents a moment later, only now realizing how truly dehydrated she is. The other figure cocks an eyebrow antecedent to answering her previous questions, "Well, bad news is that as much as I would like to tell you where we are, I'm as clueless as you on that, minus the fact that we're in the airplane's infirmary. By the way, I'm Super High School Level Police Officer Akira Nakashima, at your service ma'am!"

Maybe it was the subtle occurrence of the throbbing of a headache in her head, but the name mention tugs a faint memory to the other girl, haziness seems to cloud the thoughts at the moment. She glances back at the counter to spot the signature navy blue colored police officer cap, which would have been an obvious clue of how trustworthy Akira really is due to her occupation. From her current medical state, the brunette offers the officer a feeble grin while replying, "You're a student from Hope's Peak too? Ayumi Tsukiyama, SHSL Pilot, nice to meet you officer...Well actually, I wish we met under better circumstances."

Akira chuckles, "Usually that's my catchphrase before writing someone a ticket and ruin their day. Oh, uh, lemme go grab this real quick."

Sounding off its prominent tune for the app, the officer repeats the steps of returning to the counter to collect the blinking e-Passport and plays through the routinely passenger data collection. Tapping on the screen, a photo of the pilot followed by her information pops up. Getting a closer look at the picture, upon first glance, the observer would initially remark that Ayumi's distinctive facial expression would be labeled as a serious and pensive impression. Unlike those viewers, Akira happens to be someone of a pedantic onlooker when it comes to details when spotting a slight curve tugging on the pilot's lips, indicating she was attempting to conceal a smile when the photo was taken.

* * *

 _ **Ayumi Tsukiyama**_

 **Talent: SHSL Pilot**

 **Age: 20**

 **Birth Date: June 17th**

 **Height: 5'5"**

 **Weight: 120 lbs**

 **Blood Type: O**

 **Likes: Heights, pancakes, and aircraft engineering**

 **Dislikes: Ladders, snakes, and feeling useless**

 **Other Notes: Ayumi Tsukiyama is well-known as the captivating yet down to Earth squadron captain of the Silver Dragons during the national air shows.** **Loyalty and trust is a couple of the most important values Ayumi has and will provide to those worthy enough for it, as learned from the Air Force and her family. All through her turbulent life, the pilot has been through hell and back multiple times, opting flying as a source of freedom. While appearing serious and practical at times, her eyes light up at the mention of topics relating to physics or aircraft engineering.**

* * *

Even though the information provides a tiny portion of the pilot's background, it raises as many questions as it did with answers. The officer temporarily shrugs off the personal questioning reserving it for a later time as she quickly reads the digital time on the device before switching it off. She places it back onto the counter before making her way to her original seat next to the bed while the pilot gives off a bewilderment vibe with furrowing of the eyebrows and slightly tilting her head. This prompts the officer to cross her arms and ask the prolonged and overdue question of, "Tsukiyama-san...what happened?"

The pilot casts a glance downwards, not meeting the officer's gaze as if she was suddenly seeking entertainment from the transparent water bottle in her hand. Ayumi rotates the object with her thumb before sighing and peeks upward towards the other girl while dreadfully admitting, "Honestly, I don't know."

The officer's facial features soften upon recognizing the look of genuine defeat coming from the pilot as she uncrosses her arms and places a reassuring hand on the other girl's shoulder as her tone lightens, "That's okay! No need to push yourself when you don't have the answer...How about, can you recall the last thing you remember?"

"I remember, my friend, she took me out to celebrate the Silver Dragons' air show performance...did I party too hard?" Ayumi looks at the officer.

"Tsukiyama-san, you don't look the type to do heroin or xanax or even oxycodone for that matter", Akira lists off the common causes for constricted pupils while indirectly asking for a confirmation.

"That's because I don't. I'm a highly respected captain in the Air Force, I wouldn't ruin it with something low as party drugs", Ayumi scoffs.

"Just wanted to make sure!" This confirmation plus the way Ayumi was acting when the passengers first interacted with her, causes the officer's mind to wander to the last possible alternative as the leading cause of the pilot's weakened state.

"Where is everybody?" The question snap the officer out of her thoughts.

Akira retrieves the e-Passport from the counter once more before sitting back down on the chair and pulls up the app with the passengers' information, she begins to recall the events that occurred prior to Ayumi's awakening.

* * *

The sound of the limp body colliding with the wooden surface of the stage ceases the passengers' chatter as the action causes them to freeze in place from shock. Shaking her head, Akira breaks the silence by bolting over to the fallen girl and kneels on the floor, her first responder instincts kicking in, "Hey, can you hear me? Ma'am can you respond?"

She then proceeds to roll them over onto their back and places a hand on her forehead, recoiling at the touch of the skin having a sweaty texture yet cool temperature. Unbeknownst to her, Vincenzo Russo, Eclair Stuart, and a guy; who the officer hasn't introduced herself to, appear surrounding Akira tending to the person.

The surgeon promptly gets down on one knee and maneuvers her thumb and index finger to open the person's eyelids, analyzing the pupils, "Her pupils are extremely constricted", Eclair pauses and places a hand directly on the girl's chest and continues her analysis with a grin sketching on the face, "...Her heartbeat is faint but it's still present. Now if you prefer not witnessing the first corpse of this killing game, then I suggest we get this girl started on naloxone before her respiratory depression decreases more, stat."

"Mi amica, what can we do to help?" Enzo asks as he crouches down to Akira's eye-level.

The officer doesn't hesitate to answer and instructs him, "Russo-san you can use those magic fingers of yours to keep track of her temperature. I need you to touch her forehead and tell me if the temperature suddenly flares up and if she stops sweating."

He nods and begins softly massaging the girl's temples, wiping off beads of sweat emitting from her as well.

The officer briefly glances upward to notice dark green eyes curiously looking down at the unconscious girl and gestures with a wave of her hand for him to kneel as well, "New guy, I need you to help me loosen her clothes of anything that could potentially restrict her breathing."

A curt nod is all the officer gets in response as the new guy keeps his lips in a thin line as he swiftly unzips the umber colored aviator jacket while Akira unbuckles the girl's black belt holding up her high-waisted beige colored pants. The new guy diligently slides the fur-embedded material shielding the girl's top and tosses it aside, revealing a black fabricating tank-top. "Okay, we're good to go. Does anyone know where a medical center or infirmary on this plane is?", the officer question her companions.

"The infirmary is located on the West Wing of the aircraft. Trust me, I am the SHSL Tracker for a reason", the new guy speaks for the first time with a slightly deep voice.

The officer shares a mutual understanding look with the tracker as she beckons her head to the surgeon, "Stuart-san I need you to follow the new guy while Enzo and I will be right behind. You two make sure to stay within our eye-sight, alright?"

She turns to the massage therapist, "Okay Enzo, I need you to go in front of me and grab her legs while I grab her back. On the count of three, we're going to lift her, okay?"

"I am more than ready to help out a friend in need!", Enzo declares which causes the officer to smile at this optimistic attitude.

"One...two...three! Lift!", grunts were heard from both people as they manage to lift the injured girl in their arms. The massage therapist moves in between the brunette's legs and locks his hands underneath her knees, finding a firmer grip. For the other party, Akira wraps her arms around the girl from behind and crosses her wrists over their chest to help stabilize and balance the weight, "Tracker guy lead the way!"

"On it!" The tracker and surgeon rush out of the movie theater with the new guy breaking into a sprint while Eclair is trying her best to keep up. She mentally curses the huge difference between her short legs compared to the guy's evident longer and powerful ones, who seems to also have a everlasting amount of stamina.

Acknowledging the presence of fifteen pair of eyes watching the group, while making their way to the room's exit, Akira swiftly instructs the remaining passengers, "While we tend to the girl, everybody else split up into groups and go explore the plane so we'll know what exactly we're dealing with! In an hour, meet back in the cafeteria to report your findings and we'll talk further from there!"

"But how do we split up in groups when we don't know each other…?", Etano Meleah points out.

Before the lifting duo steps out of the doorframe, Akira shoots a look at the surfer, "I'm a police officer, not an elementary school teacher...I'm sure you guys can figure that out yourselves."

Once the officer and massage therapist step out into the hallway, they hasten their pace to catch up with the surgeon and tracker up ahead.

* * *

With only fifteen occupants remaining in the movie theater, the remaining passengers eye each other, thinking of potential groupings. The sound of someone clasping their hands together earns the attention of the group as fourteen pair of eyes dart downwards at the short violinist, "Listen up you simpletons, the map from the e-Passport consists of five sections for us to explore. If you figured out what that means then congratulations, you at least have the mathematical comprehension skills of an eight year-old. Only the best will be accepted in my group."

"Beauforte, you do realize for such a short little thing of a person you're a huge bitch, right?" Nakai Ocha bluntly comments.

"That is perhaps identical to stating how for such a stocky and mountain of a person as yourself, you have quite the molecular particle sized testicles when it comes to the appearance of bugs", Shirori voices her counter argument which surprises everyone who initially had an elegant and classy first impression on the violinist. Although, Crystelle Valliere and Etano Meleah couldn't help but snicker at this remark, Kotarou Nakastu and Setsuka Aihara attempt to maintain a straight face and not crack a smile.

"Even the great greek god that is Gelos would agree that was a good one", Effie Iizuka points out.

"Correct me if I am somehow wrong, but were we not just shown our loved ones receiving infliction of pain on live footage? How can any of you brush that off and pretend that never occurred?" Ayano Igarashi speaks up, drawing everybody's eyes to the logician, the sequences of the gritty film bringing back memories.

"I'm sure Kira-chan meant for us to distract our minds from the motive by sending us on an exploration trip", Setsuka places her input.

"But the logician has a good point. Monokuma can't be bluffing about something that..that brutal, can he?, September Simon agrees as though they are still a bit shaken up from the motive revelation.

"Isn't it very fucking possible to edit the video to make it realistic? It's fucking obvious that damn sadistic bear is just trying to get us to kill each other for some fucked up reason." The cartographer narrows their green eyes at Kuzuri Inanime.

"Oh, you _would_ know how to spot the kinks when it comes to programming, wouldn't you...I wouldn't be surprised if you somehow programmed those monitors to come on to manipulative us into mutually killing each other, you salaud!" September casts an condescending tone at the beta tester whose dark-colored, small ahoge points upwards as his green eyes widen at the sudden accusation.

"Would you two be quiet already? They're right…", Crystelle butts in and nods towards the beta tester and looks back at the cartographer with stern eyes as she continues her light scolding, "...Not you. So yeah, be quiet."

"Dude, are _you_ sure you're not the mastermind?" Etano comments with a long drawl that only enrages the cartographer even more.

"You bastard." September pauses as they deeply sigh and resumes their explanation, "I'm not female and I'm not male. I'm just September. S'il te plait, brûler en enfer merci."

It takes the surfer a moment to recognize his mistake as he appears taken back from the outburst and sincerely apologizes, "So sorry September! I use "dude" for both the sistahs and brahs, didn't mean to offend you!" Etano awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

Shiori steps in, "Now that you petit paysans are done with your ill squabbles, we shall begin exploring this flying death trap. Igarashi and Valliere you two seem to be the most reasonable and sensible to be worthy of my presence, you will be in my group for the duration of the exploration. We will take the third level of first class. Come along now." The violinist beckons a hand and gestures the trio to the door.

"According to studies, classical music does indeed help with brain development at a young age, so my calculations are reading that you two should be suitable enough for significant intelligence", the logician rubs her chin briefly before stepping besides the doorframe.

"That statistic isn't surprising but, thank the heavens that I'm getting far away from that behemoth!", Crystelle follows in suit.

Once the first trio makes their leave, Kjartan Johannesen glances down to the sight of a petrified Sayomi Watanabe clinging tightly to his right arm as if it was accidentally her goal to cut off the blood circulation for the limb. He looks to Effie who only gives the variety queen's shoulder a comforting squeeze, "Say ladies, shall we explore the first level? Since we've discovered the recording studio and movie theater, might as well do a whole floor sweep. What do you say?"

"I say that's a great idea! Heyo Sayo, I'm sure we could finish early and have time to finish our song", the Youtaite answers first which earns a weak nod from Sayomi.

The variety queen's head instantly perks up, "Oh, that's exactly what I was thinking!"

"Are you sure you're not solely agreeing because we're not going far…", Effie points out.

"Possibly. But enough of that, nothing could beat the queen of entertainment and Youtaite from making a chart topping bop that highlights the year!", Sayomi proudly declares before allowing the taller of the two girls exit first with the assistance of a walking stick. The blonde radio host simply chuckles as he follows the two celebrities out the door.

"Hey brah, do you want to be in me and Lopez's group?" Setsuka turns around to meet welcoming brown eyes from Etano and Santiago, which the surfer offers a small smile.

Having previously encountered the boys from her experience in the cafeteria, the figure skater dips the head down and back up in agreement, "Sure, why not? You guys seem nice! So, where are we going boys?"

"How about the West Wing? Since the infirmary is there, we might find some other sciencey stuff there too like a lab or something", the basketball player suggests while scrolling on his device.

"Sounds like a solid plan. Plus, we could meet Kira-chan and Stuart-chan there and check up on the newbie!", Setsuka comments before leading the two other athletes out the door and playfully warns, "But, if I hear a peep of any locker room _talk_ from either of you...be glad we're heading to the infirmary in the first place."

Two dry gulps could be heard from the basketball player and surfer as they follow behind the figure skater.

"In that case, Alice and Inukai, let's go hit the East Wing while these salaud take the second level", September walks up to the occult researcher and kunoichi, respectively.

Alice sighs and answers with a mutter, "...I guess."

"Inukai-chan agreeeees with that one, chu! Ah! Leeeaaaad the way artsy Bakeneko!", Hitome earns a very, very confused look from the cartographer.

"...She called you a shape-shifting cat in Japanese…", the researcher clears the air while hanging her head down, avoiding eye contact with the map maker.

September raises an index finger but angles it down a bit as they open their mouth but nothing comes out, "...", they put their hand down and begins walking to the door to leave, "We should get started."

Alice lowly saunters behind the cartographer as they exit the theater with Hitome adding a bounce per step as the female ninja follows.

With four out of the five groups been formed and made their leave, this leaves three passengers in the eventful room. Kuzuri glances at the other two boys before placing a pale hand on his face and slides it down, "Just. My. Fucking. Luck. Of course I would get stuck with this fucker here." His green eyes narrows at the tea brewer.

"Couldn't have said it better myself man", Katorou exchanges a mutual look with the beta tester.

"Inanime and Nakastu, you two should be honored to have such a master tea brewer on your team compared to those worthless other groups. I could craft the tea with the most exquisite herbs unheard of! ", Nakai defends himself.

"Yeah? Well, after this day I'm going to need some fucking coffee _instead_. Dude, wanna go grab some cafe coffee after we're done here?" Kuzuri turns to the electricist.

"Yeah man, let's get this over with", Katorou agrees.

The beta tester and electricist stroll out of the room with the tea brewer jumping into action to scurry in order to catch up with the in sync duo, leaving the tension provoking room completely empty with no soul in sight.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Happy New Years! I hope you all had amazing memories from 2016 and continue making them in 2017! Lol, wow I haven't updated FCD since last year!**

 **Okay, okay, I know I said I would do the final 3 character intros in this one but then when I got finished with them, I'm just like, "Holy damn this update is really dense." So, once again I'm splitting this up because what I wrote being combined with this update would be a lot of bouncing back and forth with six groups which could be really confusing. Don't worry the update with the actual exploring and intros will be up within this weekend (possibly today because of how screwed up my sleep schedule is, like it's 4AM right now as I'm typing this) since I already wrote four pages of it before deciding to split this update.**

 **DRA: FCD: RECAP: For the first half, our favorite SHSL Pilot - Ayumi Tsukiyama wakes up from making her debut following the first motive to find Akira by her bedside with the officer recalling what happened after she fell. The second half is a flashback. Once Akira, Eclair, Enzo, and Tracker Guy left to take care of the fallen pilot, the rest of the passengers are left with the task to split up and explore the plane.**

 **Regarding the QFFR from last update, I'm going with the time range of FF being formed around the time the Tragedy went into apocalyptic mode after 77th Class "graduated" so it still fits FCD's timeline as well. I'm going to go ahead with having debates for trails and it's going to be interesting because...they're not exactly your** _ **normal**_ **debates. It'll be something new and different depending if NDRV3 doesn't do it the same way, lol.**

 **1.) QFFR: Does anyone know any good apps or websites that you could make map layouts on? Or really something that makes it easy to draw out one instead of using photoshop. And that's because I wanted to draw the layouts for each portion of the plane so you guys see where each location is!**

 **2.) QOTC: As always, how'd you like the (hella short) chapter in general? Has your opinion changed on any of the previously introduced characters? Also, do you guys have any theories regarding Ayumi whether it's her backstory in general or what the hell happened to that poor girl after being attacked? *Hint: A clue is shown in this update that might seem like a typo...but it's not.***

 **3.) FCD Cast Art Shoutouts: Huge thanks and shoutout to _BlancPhoenix_ ; who drew the Nakashima Sisters that is Akira and Reina & shipping art of Akira and Setsuka AKA Akisuka, and _CandiedStars_ ; who drew Setsuka, for drawing and actually taking the time to visually recreate the characters! Be sure to check out their art from the (now working) links in my profile, make sure to take out the spaces! It's just freakin amazing how fast you two managed to draw them! Nice job guys! **

**4.) PSA: Speaking of my profile, I have a poll up for the 5 FTEs in this chapter! Be sure to vote for the five characters you want Akira to have a FTE with in chapter one! Also, since I haven't properly introduced the last three passengers, this voting is just a practice run just for curiosity...And then once I update again a new poll will appear and I'll take the results from that one! Who knows, maybe the results will drastically change?**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this short update with the aftermath of Ayumi's appearance and the passengers splitting up, and that everyone has a nice day/night wherever you are, catch you guys in the next update AKA the actual exploration of the plane and proper final introductions!**

 **Fun fact: I actually remembered the medical stuff Eclair and Akira says in this update and criminal justice stuff Akira mentioned last update from taking 2 years of Law Enforcement in high school! Well that plus Grey's Anatomy a bit, but y'know what I'm proud that I could remember that stuff at 4AM!**


	10. Chapter One: Exploration of Destination

**Chapter One** **: The Sky's The Limit:** Exploration of Destination

 _The beta tester and electricist stroll out of the room with the tea brewer jumping into action to scurry in order to catch up with the in sync duo, leaving the tension provoking room completely empty with no soul in sight._

* * *

Traveling through the hallways of the first floor, the musical trio that is Effie Iizuka, Kjartan Johannesen, and Sayomi Watanabe begin their exploration with the blonde radio host acting as the navigator.

"Wow this list is almost as long as the Twelve Labours Hercules had to do!", Effie peeks over Kjartan's shoulder to view the map of the first level of the aircraft in disbelief.

"Yeah, but the gag is that I'm not Hercules...I don't _do_ labor work", Sayomi weaves her hands through the pink ribbon of her dress, touching up on her attire from the reflection of the music studio's glass door.

"Look on the bright side darlings, technically we've cleared almost half of the areas already! I mean, we don't need to check the passenger suites, music studio, and movie theater room since we've been there already", Kjartan does a mental checklist.

"You have a point there", the variety queen agrees, "...Let's go check out the fitness center and pool, a queen must always have the best fitness condition to stay golden."

The radio host guides the two girls with directions to the fitness areas and they arrive in front of four sets of doors, two of them having a glass surface. Peeking through the left glass door, the variety queen views the sight of a typical olympic-size swimming pool with the ten lanes being divided by colorful floating barriers. Upon entering the space, on the left border of the pool, she spots a white lifeguard post placed close to the water's proximity with an orange life preserver attached to a rope on its side. Facing the post is a TV monitor with a digital running countdown shown on its screen, a timer for when the next viewing of the first motive occurs, Sayomi grimaces at this reminder. Four towering white columns with tile patterning cover the four corners of the pool. A metallic rack is seen adjacent to the watch post with stacks of neatly folded, pure white towels waiting to be used. Two deeply engraved holes are evident on both lengths of the pool, which causes Sayomi's gaze to wander towards the back of the room and notice a duo of poles leaning against the back rightmost column. Getting a closer look, a volleyball netting is evidently accompanying the materials. A subtle doorknob sticks out from the pastel graying wall, she turns it to unlock the door which reveals to be a storage room with various pool equipment, ranging from extra chlorine filters to vibrant pool noodles. The variety queen sighs before closing the door, muttering, "If only there was an inflatable raft we could've pulled an Indiana Jones."

Sayomi begins making her way back to the hallway to report her findings when the humming sound of the filters and the faint swaying of the waters catches her attention. Something about the empty and tranquil atmosphere puts the celebrity at ease to the point of her kneeling on one knee and subconsciously unbuckles the thin straps of the silver high heel. But once she completes that, the glimmering reflection of the waters below her reminds the variety queen of the girl's frilly clothing providing a pure appearance. Staring back at the reverse replica of herself, Sayomi emits a deep and audible breath before retracting her steps buckle the straps back up. Pushing off the stainless steel surface, she stands up and dusts off the white dress, "Maybe next time."

"Since Sayo went for the pool, how about we check out the fitness center?", Effie suggests.

The blonde radio host concurs, "That sounds good to me."

The Youtaite maintains her balance by shifting her weight to the hand kept on the walking stick while using the free one to unlock the door. Looks can deceive as the weight of the glass material of the door becomes apparent from actually being a bit heavier than her initial thought. Noticing the shorter person seemingly struggling with the task of opening the door, the radio host positions a hand on the higher spot of object and easily assists in pushing it ajar, leaving enough room for both parties to walk through. Effie enters the room and fully rotates herself to look at Kjartan, "You do know I can handle myself completely fine, right? I'm not a complete drip."

"Sorry, my dear! Just wanted to help any way I can", Kjartan replies as he follows the girl into the fitness center.

Upon stepping inside the space, the two quickly realize how sophisticated and upscaling the center is compared to the regular ones. The ground is smooth with its harden wood flooring and planking designs. Various gym equipment are stationed in different portions of the space, four treadmills lined up in the front with a TV monitor hanging above. On the far left of the equipment is a well-stocked, mini refrigerator storing fresh water bottles for consumption. Fronting it is a set of brown woven chairs with comforting white pillowing for its base to lounge and rest on. In the center of the room is two benchpress seats covered in black leather, evenly spaced out from each other. Off to the right side is a secluded area only bearing a low shelf storing blue yoga mats and black lining jump ropes on the top with the bottom containing various balls and rackets used in sports. Settling next to the shelf on the floor is a large silver coloring yoga ball and vigorous dumbbells are resting on a low metallic rack in order from smallest to largest weight. On both sides of the room are full-body mirrors covering the walls, showing the reflections of the radio host and Youtaite as they walk around the space. The radio host spots silver door handle poking out from the rightmost mirror, "Effie darling, come check this out!"

When the Youtaite approaches, Kjartan opens the door only to be greeted with darkness. The duo briefly exchange a glance before Effie steps inside the vast spacing. Once they get in a couple steps, the lights flicker on upon motion sensing technology, lamenting the sight of a bare and enclosed gym. The interior design matches the fitness center with its flooring and wall patterning. The only difference is a massive electronic scoreboard is held up on the center of the front wall modified with a TV monitor placed in the middle with a set of brown bleachers facing the object on the opposite side. Sliding her hand along the walls, Effie touches the rectangular bordering of a brood white switch panel it seems. Gaining a closer view, the panels contain five separate switches with labels underneath in bold: _American Football, Basketball, Racquetball, Soccer, and Tennis._ Flipping on the _Basketball_ switch, two hoops simultaneously lower from the ceiling on opposite ends of the court. As for _American Football,_ the hoops retract back into the ceiling as two yellow field goals gradually appears from the ground, the same process repeats for _Soccer_ and _Tennis_ as a pair of soccer goals and netting would pop up respectively in turn. _Racquetball_ claims to be the default setting for the gym as it reappears as empty once more.

Coming to the conclusion of not finding anything that could help the passengers escape the aircraft, the radio host and Youtaite decide to leave and check on their friend.

The sound of the pool's entrance door creaking open causes the variety queen to adjust her position. She glances back at the reflection of the water and starts fixing her attire, hoping to not have wrinkled it as the appearance of Kjartan and Effie occurs, "Heyo Sayo did you-Ohhh nice pool! It's as clear as the waters in Athens, which is only god-worthy", the Youtaite goes off topic before attempting to get back on, "...I, uh...yeah what was I going to say again?"

"Dear, we were supposed to ask if Sayo-chan had found anything useful", Kjartan finishes Effie's thoughts for her.

"Unless you can figure out an escape plan involving pool noodles, I'm going to have to say no on that", Sayomi answers, "How about you two? Any luck?"

The radio host leads the two ladies out of the pool area and into the hallway, "Unfortunately same here, although I'm surprised the gym didn't smell like sweat and hormones."

"That's because it will soon smell like despair up in there!", a shrill voice coming from below the trio causes them to slightly jump as Sayomi instinctively grabs ahold of Kjartan's arm.

Effie's grip on the walking stick tightens, "Where in Asgard have _you_ come from?!"

The black and white bear tilts his head as he places a paw on his mouth, "Eh? Shouldn't you know…?", he waves both arms above his head, "I'm everywhere! Watching every move you make...cause y'know gotta preserve the future hope. The failure to do so would cause so much...despair."

"Hey, ladies...is it just me or if there a giant machine gun pointing at us?", Kjartan gulps.

"What the-!" Both Effie and Sayomi glance upwards to catch a look at the mounting weaponry on the ceiling as they cling onto the radio host as Monokuma lets out a laugh.

"Annnd, I thought my cousin was dense yet he just stuffs himself with honey all day! No, no, you imbeciles, those aren't for you, well yet depending how bad your hormones are. It's there because all you teenagers are sex-crazed maniacs! Your e-Passports will be used as the key to access the bath houses after you work out or whatever other personal problem", he points a paw over his shoulder to the last two white doors, one with a sign for women and the other for men, "...If you're a prevy guy that tries to go in the girls' bath house with your device, then _security_ will kick in and penetrate you with rapid fired bullets instead and vice versa."

"Don't you think this is a bit overboard?", Sayomi questions. Sure she had her fair share of creepy fans and paparazzi overstepping personal boundaries but this was just too much.

"Do you want to have perverts peeping on you while showering?", the bear counters.

"Of course not, but-"

"Well then be grateful you selfish brat!", Monokuma's red eye glows, "Anywho, I have to go check on your other lovely passengers...Shout if you need anything! But not _that_ kind of shout you prev." The bear suddenly vanishes out of sight.

"Okaaaay, should we continue on?" Effie breaks the momentarily silence as the other two blinks and nod in response.

"That sounds good, let's go check out the cargo area and we'll be done! Cockpit is out of the question since Akira mentioned how she almost died from going in there. But, since we're already going to the cafeteria for the meeting, so we could leave that for after we're done with the song", Kjartan suggests with his eyes focused on the digital map, "It should be at the opposite end from the cockpit, let's go!"

The musical trio arrives at the cargo area, questions instantly raising from the look of the space's centerpiece.

"From the amount of times I've traveled to film variety segments, never have I ever seen the plane seats...in the cargo area?", Sayomi walks over to the center of the space and stares at the sitting lineup, exactly identical to the movie theater when it comes to the amount of chairs, twenty. They face the entrance and away from the tail of the plane, showcasing its rich-red coloring with white armrests and patting on the headrest for each and every one of them.

"Looks like they're being held down by...by chains on some kind of railing", the radio host bends down to further inspect the bottom of the seats.

"Um guys, you should come take a look at this", Effie slowly backs away from where she was previously standing with widen eyes.

The sound of shoes striding over to the Youtaite's location causes echoes of metal clanking from the olive metallic flooring. The radio host and variety queen look upon the scene their friend is witnessing and they become appalled.

"That...that can't possibly be _real_ can it? The producers are obviously trying to spook us with realistic food coloring, nice work guys!", Kjartan comments.

"Jo-san, you should trust me, food coloring has that fresh poster paint scent, this smells like metal or better yet, iron. This is actually real", Sayomi concludes.

"Hun, of course it's going to smell like metal considering the whole plane is made of it", the radio host argues.

"You two knock it off, whether or not it's real, there's still something off about this cargo area in general", Effie butts in.

The trio are left speechless at the sight of a large cargo container stained with what appears to be dried blood running across the bordering of the top wooden lid that seeps through the crack. There also seems to be a trail cascading downwards from the opening, but halts once it desiccated over time. Kjartan steps forward and does the honor of lifting up the lid to reveal what's inside of the storage unit, "...It's empty."

"This is like so weird. We totally should tell everyone about this", Sayomi remarks.

"Agreed. On the bright side, that should be enough exploring for today, we still have time before the meeting so maybe hitting the booth should ease our minds a bit", Kjartan suggests.

"Yeah, we can definitely write some lyrics that would fit the situation really well", Effie agrees as the musical trio leave the cargo area and head back into the music studio.

With the radio host settling back in his original producer spot in front of the mixing control panel, the variety queen and Youtaite take their place inside the recording booth behind the glass. As Effie begins taking off her hat, Sayomi turns to speak to her, "How are you so calm about this? Our loved ones are possibly getting tortured and you're carrying on like it's a regular day."

"I wouldn't say calm, but I'm just not going to be unrealistic about things. I know full well that this is a crap situation, that it could get worse. Hell, I have to use a stick to be able to move around and that's just screaming easy target, so I'm not holding my breath there. It's just...well, perhaps it is just me, but in a situation like this, something needs to be held on to, don't you think? So I'm holding onto my humanity, as tightly as I can for as long as I can. That's all any of us can do." Effie finishes her explanation, earning a nod in understanding from Sayomi and a loud applause from Kjartan through the intercom.

"Thanks for that. Although who knew you could actually be deep and meaningful?", Sayomi lightens the mood.

Effie feigns a hurt expression before placing a hand over her necklace, "Ouch, I'm more than a walking pun and mythological singing generator for your information!" she chuckles before and placing the bulky headphones on top of her head as she continues, "Ready to finish this?"

Sayomi mimics the Youtaite's actions and stick a thumbs up towards the radio host as she smiles into the microphone, "Hit it Jo-san!"

Kjartan flips a switch and the sound of a rhythmic and upbeat beat starts the track, signaling the Youtaite to kick off the song.

Effie's face instantly relaxes as the silvery and smooth tone of her vocals resonate, "Fresh cut stars and one clear night sky. Yet you're asking, how near is the ground?" she cracks a smile as the girl steals a glance at the variety queen, "You're wearing your favorite dress in our best moments…"

Sayomi closes her eyes for a moment and chimes in with expressive emotion, "We reach, for our dreams, the possibilities are endless when we own it. How far would we go to achieve it?"

With the chorus coming up next, the variety queen and Youtaite naturally harmonize as they sing together.

" _There's nowhere else to go but up cause we know the sky's the limit._

 _We know the sky's the limit."_

* * *

"The infirmary is just up ahead! Come on guys!"

The sprinting tracker leads with Eclair plus Akira and Enzo following behind moving as fast as they physically can while carrying a fallen girl in their arms. A set of pure white double doors greet the passengers which the surgeon mentally scoffs at the irony of the color picking. Both the tracker and surgeon hold open the doors, allowing for the officer and massager duo to enter. As soon as the pair were inside the medical facility, the surgeon tugs on the tracker's arm and rushes off to the side while shouting instructions, "Akira, check her pulse and tell me if anything has changed! Now Enzo and tracker boy, you two come with me to help look for medical supplies for a life support system."

Eclair and the other guy disappear into the next room, which the officer can assume is a medical supply distribution storage. The massage therapist nods as he and the officer gently lower the girl onto a hospital bed, making her posture be upwards. Enzo sends a curt nod to Akira before following the other duo's trail. With the officer alone with the unconscious girl, she seizes the time to check her status. Starting with the most crucial indicator of life and death, the officer places her index and middle finger onto the soft groove of the windpipe located on the girl's neck, searching for a readable pulse. Unable to find the same faint pulse from before, Akira moves her hand onto the girl's heart for a more direct approach. At this point, the officer shouts to the other three, "Dammit! Guys, I can't find a pulse! I have to start CPR!"

The officer opens the girl's mouth to check her airways. Noting that they're clear, she goes behind the bed to adjust the settings to have it where the girl is laying flat on her back. Akira does a quick breathing check, just in case, but still comes back empty-handed, so she begins chest compressions by pushing both hands down by two inches in the center of the chest. She quickly pumps at a hard and fast rate each time, until the officer reaches the number thirty in her head. Tilting the person's head back, she lifts the chin and pinches the nose before covering the girl's mouth with her own, blowing for a straight second before doing a haste release and repeat for another second, making a total of two solid breaths. She pulls away to glance down to give their lungs a chance to breathe on their own, unfortunately Akira is still left with a motionless chest. Repeating the maneuver, the officer couldn't help but cast a look to the windowed door leading to the next room, hoping the sound of people shuffling around to gather supplies will cease any moment now, "Come on, come on you're not dying today, you hear me? God, what's taking them so long?"

 _If you just here stay with me on this turbulent life_

 _I swear, we'll beat this empty vibe_

Needless to say, finding specific emergency medical supplies when the supposed storage is half the size of a normal pharmacy is quite difficult even with three searchers in the room.

"I found the heart monitor, yes!", the tracker announces his success with a white patient monitor with Hope's Peak Academy logo located on the center below the screen.

"Why am I not surprised that the tracker found something first, but great! Now go back out there and hook it up", Eclair instructs without taking her eyes off the cabinet containing various medicine bottles, scanning for the particular one with the label of Naloxone.

"Mi medica, what else do you need?" Enzo walks through the mini aisles filled with various medical equipment.

"What I need medically is a heart defibrillator just in case", the surgeon answers. Upon hearing the sound of no movement from the other party, Eclair elaborates, "...I meant the shock paddles for when people's hearts stop working, Enzo."

"Oh", was all that was heard before the massage therapist resumes his search.

The tracker returns, ready to help out some more, "Okay what's next? Nakashima is still providing CPR and the girl still isn't responding."

"That means her respiratory is decreasing even more, okay Tracker Boy find me a pair of gloves and help me with finding the naloxone bottle", Eclair instructs which the other guy obligates.

The tracker easily locates the set of mint-green, rubber gloves within one of the aisles but is surprised upon finding a bright orange kit labeled with _Naloxone_ sitting right next to the accessories. " _Was this placed here on purpose?",_ the tracker shakes away his thoughts for a moment and gathers both materials as he returns to the surgeon, a bit bewildered, "Hey Doc, I found the gloves, but is this also what you're looking for?"

Eclair pauses her quest to look at the objects in the tracker's hands, the two different colored eyes slightly widen, "Why yes, that's exactly what I'm looking for. Is it a fully equipped?"

He opens the kit's latches to reveal a neatly prepared arrangement consisting of three capped syringes, a pair of baby-blue rubber gloves, a packet of rubbing alcohol wipes, and two small bottles containing a clear substance, which the tracker assumes is the naloxone.

"No time for questions now that we have everything we need, Enzo have you located the heart defib-shock paddles?", Eclair examines the contents and closes the kit, heading to the door leading to the infirmary next door.

"Yes ma'am!", the massage therapist appears with a the electrifying equipment in both hands as the trio rush back into the area containing the preoccupied officer.

They catch the sight of a stressful Akira repetitively performing mouth to mouth CPR on the fallen stranger. When she reaches closer to the officer, the surgeon couldn't help but make a teasing remark, "Ohh, officer who would've thought that you played for the _other team_?"

Akira stops the maneuver and looks down while feeling light headed to witness the other girl's chest rise and slowly come back down for the first time within that agonizing time span. The calm and steady beeps sound from the monitor to indicate a gradual incline of life. A massive wave of relief washes over the officer as she finally properly stands up. Although, something about the officer's returning icy glare from her gemstone colored eyes sends a tingling chill down the surgeon's spine, "You really think now of all times, you're _really_ going to pull that shit? To one lifesaver to another, it's our duty to save lives, so I highly suggest you just do that right now."

Sensing the developing tension between the two girls, the tracker decides to step in and find a way the calm down the officer, "Eclair, she is right, so please do not discuss pointless things, we need to solve this quickly."

Eclair sends a mischievous wink towards the officer, "Aah...how useless. Conversing with a fool will have no gain whatsoever. Let's just ignore this one sided track thinker all to herself. We have much more importance to do."

In that case, the surgeon snap on her gloves that came with the kit before unscrewing the clear plastic top from the syringe. She follows the routinely steps of mounting the needle onto the end of the equipment and uses a wet wipe to sterilize a spot on the girl's outer left thigh. She then embeds the needle into the soft part of the bottle's lid to suction up 0.4 milliliters of naloxone for the first dose. Twisting the right hand holding the antidote at a 90 degree angle, Eclair then proceeds to inject the first dosage into the girl's blood system. The three remaining people stare at the patient monitor, watching the heart rate gradually climb from low BPM to the normal range while her chest rises and falls soundly as if she was simply sleeping. The surgeon pries open the girl's eyes and shines a small light a distance away from them, noting the pupil sizing, "They're still constricted from what I can tell. The naloxone should reverse the effects of the opioid overdose, meaning she should be up and sober by the next couple hours or so."

"I'm sorry but I have no idea what you just said", Enzo confesses.

"Opioid overdose is a type of drug overdose caused by the overuse of pain or sedative medications. The thing is that we don't know how it happened or which drug caused it, maybe too much heroin or oxycodone or even morphine perhaps", Akira explains which earn her some quizzical looks, "...We did a training program back in the academy about treating drug overdoses as the first responder, so don't be looking at me like _that_."

The massage therapist chuckles as the dark green eyes of the tracker glances at the owner with the lighter shade, "Hey Akira, I found some purified mineral water bottles while searching for the other supplies, it was carefully hidden away in a mini refrigerator back in the other room…Would you like to accompany me to collect them?"

"Oh, sure thing!", Akira quickly agrees.

"In the meantime, I could have some fun examining these other _marks_ on the girl's body and help treat the wounds the best way I can", Eclair comments with a slight mischievous glint in her teal left eye contrasting the crimson red right eye.

The officer begins to protest when the massage therapist places a protective arm in front of her, "Don't worry mi amica, I'll watch over her."

She pats Enzo's back before making her leave with the tracker to the room next door. With this being the officer's first trip to the medical supply area, she's amazed at how spacious the storage is. Bright lights cover the ceiling to allow the viewer to read the labels of bottles with ridiculously long names as they hover above five mini aisles. Each shelf in every lane has a embossed red bordering the pops out as a half cylinder across the top. Every aisle has specific medical equipment or supplies within, ranging from over the counter medicine to treat the flu to x-rays commonly found in hospitals. The walls are covered in stainless steel texture with matching silver floors. Before reaching the refrigerator, she passes by a whole aisle containing nothing but glass cabinets securing various bottles with chemical substances. One of the cabinets ruin its spotless image with a sticker label in the center reading, " _Antidotes and medicines were crafted from Hope's Peak Academy own SHSL Pharmacist, Seiko Kimura."_

" _Seiko? SHSL Pharmacist? Why does that name sound familiar?",_ the officer thinks to herself, unsure as to why she felt more compelled to this name compared to the SHSL Chef back in the cafe.

"Nakashima, everything alright over there?", the tracker asks from a distance, breaking the girl out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, just needed to stop for a moment, you know?", Akira calls back, continuing her way towards the tracker as she pushes her previous thought in the back of her mind.

"Here, catch." The guy tosses two fresh water bottles which the officer reflexively catches. He then snatches one for himself and breaks the seal, taking a sip of the cooling water running down his throat, "So, about that little outburst back there…"

The officer tucks one bottle under her arm as she unscrews the cap from the other and takes the time to analyze the tracker's appearance from tilting her head back to sip the bottle's contents.

A slight muscular build is evident even underneath the triple layering of clothing. A red tie rests on top of a black, dress-styled shirt with a white vest covering portions of the fabric. Fitting as the absolute thickest portion of the attire is a long-sleeved, dark red coat left unbuttoned in order to showcase the other two layers, along with the black bottom hems touching his knees. A magnifying glass peeks from one of the two big pockets located on the coat as well. The lengthy pants cover his bottom half which contains the matching black color of his shirt, accompanied by dark brown shoes over his feet. To finish off his attire is an authentic silver watch resting on his right wrist with a pair of half framed spectacles protecting the eyes. The black plastic of the object contrasts his dark green coloring of each iris and slightly dark complexion in tone.

As for the hair, the guy has lengthy dark purple locks that even tied into a low ponytail, it ends at his lower back. From where the officer standing, she could tell his hair is incredibly smooth and sleek, Akira makes a mental note to ask what type of conditioner he uses. Lastly, to sport the front of his hairdo, is a maintained fringe that hangs faintly below his eyebrows.

"Look, sorry you had to witness that, especially since we never really officially met, I'm not usually that snappy which I guess is ironic since I'm a cop, but you know…", the officer trails off, evidently not particularly fond of the idea of completing the thought.

"I actually wanted to commend you for making that remark, since Eclair was acting foolish in this critical situation. Although I'm assuming you acted in that fashion because of the introduction of the motive and killing game, is it not?", the tracker replies only to notice the officer looking away, eyes clearly deep in thought, so he continues, "I just wanted to say thank you for your assistance, you have been a great help in there even under that type of pressure, you most likely saved that girl's life by springing into action as you did."

The officer chuckles, "Okaaay, now you're starting to sound like an ass kisser, but I get what you mean and thanks. I guess that motive kinda heighten my sense to perform my duties even more considering there's a chance one of us might _actually_ kill for freedom and our loved ones. I'm just stuck on figuring out how to protect us and them with nobody getting killed in the process."

"I'm quite sure you will find a way officer", the tracker reassures.

"Speaking of which, sir I've never recieved _your_ name actually!", Akira points out.

The tracker holds out his hand for a proper shake, "My name is Keefe Ng Jun Hui, you may call me Keefe, it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

"Nice to know I can finally put a name with the talent", Akira laughs as she shakes his hand, "Now if you excuse me, I should probably head back to retrieve our devices from the movie theater room before that sadistic teddy bear throws a fit. Plus, there's supposed to be a meeting in the cafeteria pretty soon anyways. Hey, can you watch over her while I'm gone and make sure nothing happens to her?"

"You should know it is not necessary to ask for a task such as that, but will do", Keefe answers.

The officer tosses the unopened water bottle back at the tracker before she makes her exit back into the previously eventful room. Keefe walks into the infirmary with two bottles of water in his hands to catch the sight of Enzo sitting in one of the chairs against the wall while Eclair is occupying herself by asking herself questions of possible causes of the girl's injuries, only to shut down her theories with non matching symptoms.

The tracker settles for a chair facing the hospital bed the girl currently sleeps in with a determined thought in mind, " _I refuse to let another person down, not again."_

Back in the movie theater room, the officer's device sounds off upon the girl learning the tracker's name. Luckily this ringer occurs coincidentally Akira reenters the room, easily assisting her in locating the electronic passport. Tapping on her go-to app as of lately, the officer presses on Keefe's profile for the passengers. Judging by the photo, if Keefe didn't rush to help out the girl when he did, Akira would've considered this guy as intimidating and bit unnerving by how emotionless and stoic his facial expression is.

* * *

 _ **Keefe Ng Jun Hui**_

 **Talent: SHSL Tracker**

 **Age: 18**

 **Birth Date: July 27th**

 **Height: 5'7"**

 **Weight: 141 lbs**

 **Blood Type: O+**

 **Likes: Coffee, rainy days, and handmade items**

 **Dislikes: The Sun, sweet food, and overly quiet areas**

 **Other Notes: A male tracker who specialize in finding missing people. Due to his past, he is a very serious person who will not tolerate anyone fooling around at the wrong timing. However, it seems that he was not like this when he was younger.**

* * *

 _Everybody has it in themselves_

 _The potential, no need to keep it confidential_

The sophisticated trio that is Shiori Beauforte, Ayano Igarashi, and Crystelle Valliere travel along the paths of the third level of the first class department. Ayano acts as the group's navigator while fumbling the sapphire stone hanging on her silver necklace as she looks down to read the electronic map. Shiori naturally takes the lead while Crystelle walks side by side with the logician, "I say we check out the computer lab."

"According to the layout, the passenger suites and computer lab are the only two areas located up here", the logician points out.

"As I stated before, we're going to the computer lab", Shiori repeats.

"At least we can finish this task early and venture back to the cafeteria, all this discussion of killing and torture is making me quite famished", Crystelle comments.

Passing by the number of suites, Ayano furrows her eyebrows and glance at the classical musician, "Do you have no sense of rationality? How can you possibly be thinking about food when the severity of this situation is high?"

Crystelle exaggeratedly points toward the wall on the right with her hand and twirls a strand of hair with the other, "Of course I have a sense of rationality, you vagrant! There's always a war occurring right outside our window but people are just so damn stubborn to wipe the condensation off the glass to actually notice. Killings happen everyday in our lives, it's not exactly a new thing, but I'm confident that if you ask Akira, she would agree because unlike you, she's not a brainless idiot."

Unsurprisingly, the violinist is the first of the three to reach the glass door connecting to the computer lab. She peeks through the window and spots an arrangement of rows of switched off computers. Not hearing the footsteps of her followers close behind, Shiori turns around to notice the pair engaging in a what seems to be a tension filling conversation. The violet colored eyes rolled in annoyance as its owner taps their black heels against the floorboards, loud enough to catch the duo's attention, "Would you two stop speaking, you vermines? Let's hurry up and get this over with so you're not wasting anymore of my valuable time."

It's faint, but a crack in the logician's composure shows when brown eyes slightly widen at the classical musician's refute, "I...understand. It would seem my theory was incorrect. I apologize." Ayano casts a look to the ground when a question pops into mind, causing her to coldly stare at Crystelle once more, "Although, if I was in your position, I would not sit on my rear like a duck awaiting to get shot during hunting season, because unlike _you,_ I'm going to actually attempt to fix this mess of a situation in the most efficient way I know...my calculations."

The logician then fastens her pace to catch up with the violinist at the door, they enter the room leaving the classical musician pouting while standing in the hallway at a loss of words.

"Who...who...who does that math gosse think she is?!", Crystelle intakes a heavy breath before placing a pale hand on the door handle, "If there's one thing her and math have in common, it's how much of a nuisance they both are."

Unlocking the data center's door, the classical musician steps inside to enter the same space as the logician and violinist. The sight of the numerous amount of computers overwhelms the trio from the spacious area compacting the technology. Beige acts as the primary coloring for the walls with the front being covered by a pulled down screen facing the twenty sets of internet appliance. Four rows of long tables with a silver counter occupy the room with five computer monitors and keyboards resting on top. The trio sit on the row closest to the door with Ayano by herself on the rightmost spot while Crystelle and Shiori settle for the two leftmost seats, leaving two empty chairs in the center.

"Do you think the internet works?", the violinist asks.

"Yes because _obviously_ that bear is dimwitted enough to grant us permission to the outside world through the web", the classical musician sarcastically replies.

The logician switches on the monitor in front of her and waits for the program to boot up, "As much as I prefer not to concur with her, Valliere does indeed has a logical point. Monokuma would not be vacuous enough to grant us loose ends such as that. But…", she trails off before picking it back up as the computer fully begins operating, "There may be an opportunity for myself to pull up the flight's coordinates and calculate where the aircraft is traveling to and approximate how long it will take. If only I could gain access through the system's firewall, I could hack into the database and sort out its encryption barrier to find the other blueprints."

Crystelle and Shiori blink.

"Just...just figure out how to get us out of here you Mathématiques mouchard", the violinist commands.

"Phuhuhu...I highly suggest you don't try that Miss Igarashi."

The sudden appearance of the black and white bear catches the girls off guard, or slightly jump in their seat in Crystelle's case. They turn around and glance downwards to face Monokuma standing in the doorframe with his arms crossed, "How rude of a passenger you are from ignoring my glorious flight regulations! Really, I spent sooo much time on these rules to keep my little hopes and prides safe and you decide to just ignore them like they're Beauforte's pufferfish face when she eats peanuts!"

"How dare you bad mouth my appearanc-"

"Hush, hush you spoiled hotel running brat! But really, breaking the rules is a _huge_ no-no! I suggest you look at the regulations in your e-Passport for your own good, see ya!" The bear then vanishes before their eyes, leaving the girls scrambling to unlock their devices.

* * *

 _ **Flight Regulations**_

 **Rule 1:** **Students may reside only within the plane. Leaving mid-flight is an unacceptable use of time.**

 **Rule 2: "Nighttime" is from 10pm to 7am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.**

 **Rule 3: With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore the plane at your discretion.**

 **Rule 4: Violence against captain Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of doors, monitors, surveillance cameras, and windows.**

 **Rule 5: Hacking and interfering with the aircraft's technology is strictly prohibited.**

 **Rule 6: Anyone who kills a fellow passenger and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered.**

 **Rule 7: Additional school regulations may be added if necessary.**

* * *

A few moments pass before the violinist and classical musician glance at the logician with an expectant expression.

Shiori irritatedly cracks her fingers, "So, what now?"

"Simple, I just have to formulate a contemporary stratagem to search for a loophole out of these restrictions", Ayano casually shrugs.

Crystelle overlaps her left arm over the right arm on top of the table to use as a pillow for her head, "Basically we're screwed."

* * *

"A chemistry lab close to the infirmary how...convenient."

Santiago Lopez nudges the drooping eyewear back onto the bridge on his nose while interpreting the digital layout in his hand with Etano Meleah and Setsuka Aihara following him from behind. The figure skater rubs her arms up and down, attempting to contract warmth to her skin, "Why is it suddenly so cold over here?"

"Yo, isn't it because something about hospitals killing bacteria with cold temperature?", the surfer scratches his head.

"Talk about an _interesting_ word choice", the figure skater shakes her head.

"Brah, I doubt the bros in suits would allow an actual killing game happen, it's impossible", the surfer denies.

"I guess the reality of this hasn't settled in for _some_ people", the basketball captain mumbles to himself.

Soon enough, the athletic trio reach a hallway imposing a couple of crossroads, indicating they have arrived at the West Wing. In front of them is a massive glass barrier acting as the translucent wall connecting two of the three medical facilities of the aircraft together. On the left, judging from the view from the clear passageway is what appears to be a lab with various scientific equipment commonly utilized with its area of study. The middle section seems to interconnect with both the chemistry lab and the infirmary to its right from inside, its appearance being identical to a localized pharmacy with five miniature lanes as medical aisles for the time being. As for the rightmost room, one can only assume it would be the infirmary for treating the sick and wounded with its white walls and double doors ending the transparent streak. The block barriering provides privacy to potential patients, which deems understandable to the viewing trio.

"We should check out the chemistry lab first, I feel like the infirmary might be pretty busy at the moment", Setsuka speaks up from the brief silence.

"Yeah, no kidding that makes a lot of sense actually", Santiago agrees.

The trio heads over to the left towards the chemistry lab with Etano holding the single crystal-clear door, earning an appreciative and polite "thank you" from the basketball player and figure skater. The moment they enter through the laboratory's entrance, the smell of a mixture of acetone and bleach engulf their nostrils.

"At least we know for sure it's clean in here", Etano use his hands to fan the evident clean scent away from his nose.

"Yup, I would know the smell of nail polish remover from anywhere!", Setsuka places her input while taking a quick glance at her hands.

"Who knows, maybe someone used bleach to remove the blood stains from their clothes recently?", Santiago suggests, which earn two sets of concerned looks surveying the basketball player.

The surfer walks over to the location of five lab coats hanging on the pure white walls on a metallic hook, he snatches one of the articles of clothing and slides it onto his arms, "Dude, seriously…?"

"How, how can anyone kill, it's so senseless and it does nothing but leave someone with a hole in their life", the figure skater scoffs before stepping in front of Etano to assist the surfer in putting on the fitting white coat.

Santiago places both of his elbows on the steel lab table in front of him, resting his face on top of the opened hands as he crosses his legs, "I'm just being realistic here. We-we can't just ignore the other possibility in case someone actually got affected by the motive."

Etano searches around the spacious room to find the cabinet holding the goggles and immediately locates the eyewear, he grabs one and adjusts it accordingly to his head. Setsuka playfully roll her blue eyes at the sight as she passes by the line of microscopes to appear in front of the basketball player at the lengthy lab table, placing both hands on the evidently polished surface, "Lopez-san, we'll deal with that if we ever cross that bridge, for all we know this could be just a huge cruel prank from our seniors."

"Do you honestly believe that?" Santiago questions.

"Yo brahs look at me! I'm like one of those smarty guys doing sciencey stuff that look mega cool and stuff!"

 _When we put our mind to it_

 _we can soar high and touch the clouds_

For the first time, Santiago glances behind the figure skater to catch a glimpse of the surfer's drastic change of appearance from his original laidback attire to an entirely sophisticated and profound one. He holds two graduated cylinders with one in each hand and pours nonexistent chemicals from one to the other. " _How can he still act so carefree when I'm terrified?"_ , the basketball player thinks to himself.

"So, should we go check out the pharmacy next door?", the basketball player clears his throat.

"Yeah brah, the smell of bleach is starting to get to me, let's go Suka", the surfer takes note of the basketball player's body language of suddenly wanting to leave but doesn't say anything.

Santiago opens the intertwining door leading into the pharmacy and the trio steps through it. Almost immediately the gleaming lights coming from the bright ceiling nearly blinds them but after blinking a couple times, their vision adjusts to the contrast and scan the surroundings resembling a store. They mindlessly walk through the aisles, inspecting the medical materials and supplies ranging from commercial over the counter medication to morphine packets used in hospitals. Upon looking at the state of the many shelves that appeared as if someone was scrambling to search for certain products in a hurry with the supplies being shifted from its original position or knocked onto the ground. This inspection raises some questions in their minds for the stranger's health condition. Speaking of the mysterious newcomer and their eventful debut back in the movie theater room, it seems the same thought pops into everyone's thought process as the trio rush their way to the other connecting door. Curiosity clouds their reasoning and apparently manners when Setsuka abruptly opens the door as the surfer and basketball player burst into the infirmary.

Of course all the athletic trio receive in return is surprised expressions from the massage therapist and traker at their sudden entrance while the surgeon is too distracted with inspecting the wounded girl in bed.

"Oh...um...hey guys, h-how's it going?", Santiago scratches the back of his neck after sensing the sudden appearance of an awkward atmosphere.

"I am doing pleasantly, thank you for your concern mi amico", Enzo waves from his seat.

Keefe remains silent in his seat, his eyes transfixed on the girl in the bed, as if he was commanded or instructed to do so. Eclair straightens her posture and pauses her body inspection as she walks over to the counter to jot down some notes in a notebook. She turns to the athletic trio with a cheery smile, "I'm doing just swell! Just look at all of the vibrant hues upon on her body, it's just so...enthralling and fascinating! It's just a shame that such a pretty body went through hell and back but nevertheless the human anatomy _is_ our playground to explore and whatnot."

Setsuka looks at the surgeon while rising an eyebrow as she processes the girl's statement and walks towards to the bed, earning an up close view of the stranger and her salient injuries, "How is she?"

"I have her on naloxone, which should reverse the effects of the drug she was on in a couple hours or so. But, judging from the coloring of these bruises and cuts, safe to say I'm going to also have her on some pain relievers for a bit", Eclair discusses.

The basketball captain stands next to the figure skater as he gently lays a hand on the injured girl's exposed shoulder, careful not to press down the evidently purplish marking, "That's really great to hear, this one sure is a trooper, good for her. Although I can't imagine what she had been through."

"That's amazing news brah!", Etano pumps a fist in the air.

"This is indeed wonderful news!...Just don't expect for it to last long okay? Nothing last long in this world...even happiness…", the surgeon's smile continues to be plastered on her lips, confusing the surrounding occupants.

"How can you say that? You're a surgeon for god sakes!", Setsuka argues.

"It is perhaps called being a realist in this situation", Eclair points out.

Not wanting to get into a twisted argument with the surgeon with questionable views, the figure skater temporarily drops the subject in exchange of a different one from noticing something or _someone_ missing, "...Wait, where's Kira-chan? Shouldn't she be with you guys?"

"I believe she retreated back to the cafeteria in order to prep for the meeting recalling everyone's discoveries during their explorations, we will remain here to monitor the girl's condition in case a scenario happens", Keefe speaks up for the first time during the athletic trio's visit.

"I suppose we should start making our way back, what do you say boys?", Setsuka turns to the basketball player and surfer who nod in agreement as a response.

"Yo guys, should I put this back?", Etano points to the lab coat covering the black long-sleeve and goggles over his brown eyes.

Santiago and Setsuka share a look between each other before not hesitating to answer with, "No."

The scientific laboratory cladded surfer shoots a cheeky grin before following the basketball player and figure skater out of the infirmary as the trio begin to travel back to the previously eventful cafeteria.

* * *

Trekking in the opposite direction of the athletic trio, Hitome Inukai, Alice Mayfield, and September Simon momentarily arrive at the East Wing of the aircraft.

A glass corridor surrounds the two rooms, acting as a barrier between the inner space and the hallway's. On the right side of the divider that is a cream colored wall, reveals the signature mini convenience store tourists would usually utilize as a rest stop or a chance to gather snacks before hitting the road once more.

"Shall we check out the store first, m'ladies?", September asks, breaking the comfortable silence between the traveling trio.

Alice holds up a small notebook containing multiple blank, solid beige paging. Tapping against the metallic spirals with a black pen, she scribbles a response onto the page, " _Okay."_

"Inukai-chan agrees with that one!", Hitome nods after a brief pause.

Tugging the silver doorknob held firmly in place, the cartographer swings the door ajar, leaving enough space for the two girls to follow.

 _They say to know your limits_

 _But I say those who broke their dreams have a tendency to be full of mendacity_

Walking inside the convenience store, the luminescence becomes slightly dim as a wooden rafter from above covers a chunk of the ceiling lights, leaving a comfortable viewing for the customers. The kunoichi contemplates on whether or not to actively hang upside down from the beams belonging to the rafters but shakes her head after deciding, " _What is the point if there is no shadow to hide in and scare people?"._

Footsteps from the trio can be heard as they walk across the flooring identical to the wooden planking design associating with the high beams above them. The first objects to greet the group would be the two mini aisles settling in the center of the space consisting of various consumables. Each person cover an area on their own, with Alice remaining within the one closest to the entrance, Hitome taking the center, and September traveling through the one nearest the register. The occult researcher scribbles down bullet points of the varying chip brands within her section onto the notebook, copying the newly found information as notes. As while, the kunoichi surveys the middle aisle with interest as it carries numerous amounts of candy brands as well. A flavor catches her eye as the packaging mentions the flavoring of matcha or at least the essence of green tea taste that is. Picking up the wrapped set of six macarons with a green coloring, Hitome reads the small print note on the front of it, " _Made from the sweet recipes of Hope's Peak Academy own SHSL Confectioner, Ruruka Ando!"_

"Ando-san? Why does the name ring a bell in Inukai-chan's head? Ahhhhh, Inukai-chan probably killed her or her family or something, like KAPOW knock em down six feet under or something", both Alice and September poke their heads out from their aisle to exchange a questioning glance at each other.

Retracting back to the filled section near the counter, September walks by a machine that would be used for dispensing beverages except the normal soft drinks were replaced with icy-slushy flavors. Off to the wall, if it wasn't being covered by a cooling containment for cold products, the coloring can be seen as a mellow shade of yellow to blend with the ceiling and flooring. On the right side of the store, six translucent doors harbor a diverse selection of drinks, ranging from bottled mineral water to refreshing yet unhealthy soda. The cartographer feels a tap on their shoulder and turns around to meet with the kunoichi's curious eyes, "Ohhh, eh, what is that machine? Does Inukai-chan need to eliminate the potential threat?! "

"...It's a slushy machine, you have never had a slush before?", September raises an eyebrow.

"What is this 'slush' you speak of, artsy Bakeneko?", the kunoichi responds to the question with yet another question.

"It's just shaved ice with flavor to drink from, I cannot believe you never tried one before!", the cartographer sounds astonished at this small discovery, "Here, you are getting one for sure, pick a flavor."

Hitome passes by three slushy machines while considering each icy flavor as her first contender. She stops in front of a lever that has the label of green tea written on top of it, pointing to the stop while bouncing in place, the kunoichi calls to her cartographer friend, "This...this one! Chuuu, noooo waaay this will taste the same!"

"Well, prepare to have your mind blown", September smiles as they grab a cup from the stack next to the machines and makes their way to the flavor. As the cartographer pulls down on the metal lever to start pouring its icy flavored contents, the kunoichi watches closely with a peak of interest. The machine grumbles, churning its gears and mechanisms to pour the green tea flavoring into the average sized container. Once it had filled to the top with a light shade of green, the cartographer releases the lever and goes to cover the cup with a dome-shaped, plastic lid. They grab a red straw and pokes it through the center opening before handing the freshly brewed drink to their friend to taste for the first time.

Hitome sips the drink and as soon as the beverage reaches her mouth, her eyes widen. Taking the straw away from her lips, she looks at the cartographer in amazement, "Woooah this really almost like matcha! Woooow this machine is a-amazing! Hososhi come over here and try this amazing invention!"

Alice glances up from her notebook and can only assume the kunoichi was referring to the occult researcher through traditional Japanese nicknames. Timidly making her way to the other two, she plants herself next to Hitome and scrunches her nose at the sight of this so-called amazing invention. Scribbling a response onto the next entry of the notebook, she holds it up for the female ninja to read, " _It's just a slushy machine."_

"Ohhh yeah, but it is so amazing with all these levers and gears and gadgets of sorts!", Hitome puts her arms up to further her statement.

The occult researcher jots down another response, " _It's pretty common in Texas. Every gas station and theme park has these as a frozen treat for the summer season."_

"A gas station? Why would someone go there when it would smell unpleasant? Inukai-chan is confused", Alice goes to lift her pen but brings it back down as she just deeply sighs instead.

Luckily September cuts in between the two girls to move along the group, "Inu, let us save that topic for another time, because we should go check out the recreation room next door."

Traveling through the entrance into the recreation room, all three passengers sense a wave of relaxation coming from the atmosphere of the space. It wasn't that surprising considering the soothing and tranquility vibe the layout the room gives off along with the items it consist of. The walls are painted with a color palette that initially starts off with a dark shade of mauve purple, but it transitions into a lighter shade of lilac, with faint shading of sky blue following, a slight dark carolina blue beneath it, and a heavily prussian shade of blue to finish off the design. As for the flooring, it perfectly accompanies the walling with a polished, pure white appearance. Three spotlights shine from the ceiling in the center as they droop below its support beam to illuminate the sight of the gaming areas.

Alice plops down onto the black leathered couch facing away from the entrance, sinking into its comfortable touch as she opens up her notebook to review over previous entries. She scans her nearby surroundings to discover four arcade styled gaming consoles are located in front of the seating area with three of them involving joystick and button meshing actions. The last one lights up with an upbeat and bright-vibrant appearance as the theme matches the _Tap Tap Revolution_ game with a set of two dance floors with directional, neon arrows attached to the console. Setting her notebook down on top of the wooden coffee table in front of her, the occult researcher walks to the water cooler found in the bottom right corner of the room. She pours herself a cup of water while looking at the steel, spinning magazine rack adjacent to her.

Hitome occupies herself with the sight of a dartboard hanging on the wall next to her. The ace colors of a black on the outer rim, following back and forth traces of green and red with black and white spaces below it for a repeating pattern until it reaches the center of the circular board. She tilts her head in curiosity at never witnessing this...object of interest before, "Eh? Bakeneko and Hosohi what is this illusion of colors?"

September finds themselves walking towards the middle of the room near the entertainment area consisting of a ping-pong table set next to the wall across the entrance, an air hockey table set vertically on the rightmost side, a foosball table sits on the leftmost side with red players for one team and blue players for the other, and finishing off with a pool table set right in the center underneath the spotlights. The cartographer was barely able to spot the glass encasing of a cabinet, setting by the upper-right corner, if it wasn't for the light's illumination right on top it. The storage holds various board games and card decks on the top two shelves, while the bottom shelf has equipment needed for the three stationary games.

Alice holds up her notebook above the couch with a response in black ink, " _You throw darts from a distance to try to hit the center."_

"Inu, that is a dartboard", September answers as they crouch down to the bottom shelf of the cabinet, "Here, I'll give you some darts to throw."

Opening the glass barrier between the equipment and them, the cartographer grabs a handful of darts to hand to the kunoichi. When they turn around, September witnesses Hitome with a set of the pointed weapons in her hand already. Gripping a dart in her right palm, the kunoichi easily throws the object straight to the target's center, as if it was traveling through the breeze of a wind bypassing the air resistance. Hitome clenches both fists as she pumps them in the air in celebration, "Woohoo! Inukai-chan strikes again!"

"Inu...where...did you get those darts?", the cartographer speaks slowly as the kunoichi just shrugs with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

She hides both hands behind her back as September peers beyond her figure. They knew something was off about the scene, and turns out their theory was correct as the dartboard backing the two slightly melts with a dripping substance burning the core of the object. The cartographer looks at the kunoichi with wild eyes, "What the-? Why do you have fucking poisonous darts on a plane?!"

Hitome raises an eyebrow as she turns around to glance at the exact thing her friend was referring to, her mouth then open to form a silent, "Oh". Tucking away the remaining weapons in her attire, she shrugs with a cheeky smile, "Whoops! Inukai-chan knew she forgot to clean something!"

From hearing this commotion, Alice figures it was time to leave before anymore property accidentally gets destroyed and quite frankly she wasn't in the mood to hear it from Monokuma. Writing her statement on the paper surface, she holds up another message to the other two passengers, " _We should head to the cafeteria for the meeting."_

September picks up on the occult researcher's trail and perks up, "That's a good point Mayfield! Come on Inu, let us head out."

"Inukai-chan agrees! Buuuuut, last one to the cafeteria is a rotten sakana!", the kunoichi exclaims before breaking into a sprint out the door.

Being left with the one other girl in the trio, September turns to Alice, "Do you plan on running after her?"

She doesn't hesitate to flip the notebook's pages of previously replies before holding up the pre-written response, " _No."_

* * *

Meanwhile on the second level of the aircraft, Kuzuri Inanime and Kotarou Nakatsu are seen begrudgingly treading right behind Nakai Ocha who wears a smug expression after he happily recruits himself as the trio's unofficial leader. Passing by a series of passenger suites, they head to the library by the instruction of the tea brewer even though the beta tester and electricist agreed only so they could grab some coffee from the cafe on the way back.

 _Everyday in your life you meet someone new_

 _Could it be possible they could change your mind, in a sec or two?_

Stopping in front of a white door, the trio glance over to the side and through the clear windows to check they arrived at the right place, which proved to be obviously accurate from the rows of bookshelves filling the space. Modern would be the perfect word to describe the library's general theme with its sleek black and white designing. Towering black bookcases of five stand on the polished, white marble flooring, efficiently occupying the space. Standing next to an adjustable light switch, it only comes natural to the electrician to mess around with its settings as the ceiling transition from the bright lighting it initially gives off to a more comfortable one and then into a dim illumination, finally to complete darkness as the last resort, "You know mates, I think I could get comfortable with this."

"I can see why, this place is fucking amazing!", Kuzuri wholeheartedly agrees and allows a portion of his geeky side slip out, "...I could study more about electronics and programming to help improve my talent in the long run, fuck yeah!"

"Are we done prancing around like children attending school for the first time? It's just a library, I don't need books to improve something that I'm already the best at, although I can't exactly say the same for you two", Nakai remarks.

"Oh fuck off you fucktard of a tea brewer. You know, nobody fucking asked you to be a part of this group", the beta tester rolls his eyes while standing in the section labeled, science.

"Inanime might be onto something", Kotarou replies from a distance while standing in the aisle with the self-help books.

The tea brewer only coughs before taking a seat on one of the silver colored bean bags set in front of the five aisles, gradually causing the beaded material to sink due to his weight, "How can you be so invested in books when we're trapped in a killing game pitting everyone against each other? Then again, it's quite disgusting someone might actually partake from the motive."

"Who wouldn't be thinking of this goddamn game at the moment? For all we know it might be fake but we can't throw away the possibility of it actually being real", the beta tester points out.

"Not going to lie guys, but I'm pretty terrified-", Kotarou confesses, gaining the attention of the beta tester.

"Terrified, _you?_ Come on man, I'm pretty sure someone with a fucking nice and tight build such as yourself could handle being in this sort of situation!", Kuzuri encourages.

"Thanks Kuzu", was all the electrician can reply without spilling too much of his actual thoughts out loud. Kotarou only sighs as his hands slide against the binding of the books, thinking to himself with rapid firing thoughts running through his mind, " _Why wouldn't I be scared? This happened so unexpectedly with no warning or reasoning at all, it's unfair! Why me? Why couldn't it be anyone else in this god forsaken world? What did I possibly do to deserve this?"_

"Alright you neophyte tea tasters, let's go to the cafe already, I'm bored just sitting here", Nakai announces.

Breaking the electrician out of his thoughts, he and the beta tester decide to exit to area, both suddenly having the increased urge to drink some calming coffee. They pass by a set of suspending bubble chairs in mid air close to the walls. A stainless steel frame arch is used to mount the object in place with the opened bubble itself taking up an identical physical spacing as a standard chair but the perspective of the the transparent chair floating off the ground provides a sense of quintessential essence of tranquility and airiness to the seat holder. Inside the bubble is a silver cladded padding for the seat to contrast the modern interior design colors. Setting in the diagonal direction of the floating chairs are the two grounded black couches that face each other with a simple transparent coffee table in the center. The trio then exit the comforting atmosphere to seemingly enter another one that is the cafe shop.

The sound of coffee brewing leaves the scent behind as a fresh wake up call to the boys, as much as the tea brewer begs to differ. They walk inside to observe the surroundings as if the trio couldn't believe such a comfortable and relaxing space on this aircraft was possible. If it wasn't for the menus covered in chalk writing or the counter containing pre prepared consumables, the metallic tables being bolted to the flooring would've been the first thing to catch their attention.

The tea brewer decides to take a seat on a black, arm-chair at the table near the window peering into the hallway due to his dislike of coffee, "Yeah, I'm sitting this one out because only low lives such as yourselves would _actually_ prefer coffee over the essential of living that is tea."

The beta tester turns around while cupping his ear with one hand, "Do you hear that? It sounds like the amount of fucks I give. Oh wait, there's none."

The electrician only sighs in response while the beta tester laughs at his own joke when he spots the tea brewer aiming a scowl at him. Steps can be heard as Kotarou and Kuzuri walk along the wooden planking of the floor towards the counter. With the balanced lighting hitting the teens as they resume their activities with the duo tinkering with the now apparent touch screen counter. While the _Geek Squad_ , which is what Nakai refers to the pair in his head, work on that, he turns in his seat to only realize out of the whole space, he somehow chooses the one table with what seemed to be littered with torn out pages from a notebook covered in messy scribblings of ideas. Although, one of the notes seem to be directed towards _him_ or he guesses whoever sits in this spot in general, " _This is Ayano Igarashi's spot in the cafe, so if you are reading this, you are in my spot and I wish for you to get out of it, thank you! - Ayano Igarashi_ ".

Just for that, Nakai swings his legs onto the surface of the table as he leans back and watches the Geek Squad interact with one another.

"Dude, I'm fucking sure we don't need an actual human barista to make our drinks, just trust the technology", Kuzuri mentions.

"Look man, it's not that I don't trust you, but isn't that a bit suspicious? I mean, with someone of your talent, you could easily hack the system and make this thing glitch or bug out and poison my drink", Kotarou argues.

"Now why the fuck would I kill my one guy friend on this damn plane?", the beta tester looks at his friend confused.

"I'm just being realistic here!", the electrician accidentally raises his voice to get the point across.

"Wow you sound like an elderly couple fighting, for the love of god for once I want to return to that cafeteria!", Nakai butts in, causing Kotarou to turn and glare at him while Kuzuri freezes in place, suddenly feeling heat travel up his tan face and onto the cheeks. The two tech guys quickly construct their orders and grabs the drinks as the tea brewer walks out of the cafe, elated to leave what appears to be an atmosphere contorting his sense of time slower than usual.

With their caffeinated drinks in hand, Kotarou and Kuzuri converse in mindless discussion about their experiences with technology while Nakai leads the trio in a subtle hasten pace towards the cafeteria.

* * *

"At least Valliere hasn't completely hurled _all_ of the produce."

Akira stands in front of a refrigerator, reaching inside the cool appliance for an edible fruit. Touching the smooth surface of a crescent-shaped produce, she grabs it from the small space and pulls it out. The officer figures while she waits for everyone to arrive for the meeting, it couldn't hurt to have a mini snack, such as a stress reliever remedy that is a banana. As she walks through a set of swinging steel doors and enters the cafeteria space, the girl doesn't notice three people occupying the room as well from inspecting the produce of any possible bruises.

Of course, who knew the officer's life would simultaneously and briefly flash before her eyes when a gleaming sharp blade suddenly whizzes past the officer's head, embedding its print into the metal doors behind her. Realization kicks in when Akira figures out that the weapon narrowly missed her right ear by a couple centimeters, "Wh-what the hell?!"

 _Yet they say that trust is meant for survival_

 _Without it, are you truly living?_

"Whoops! My hands totally slipped!", a comically high pitched voice responds in a very not so innocently tone, which the officer picks up.

With her defense instincts kicking in, Akira immediately raises both hands while cupping an object in her hold by aiming its point at the attacker...which happens to be the banana's. She stares intently at the perpetrator's sharply glaring russet colored eyes, mixing a blend of red and brown. The officer breaks her concentration by snapping the eyes towards the handling of the fruit in her hand as a weapon. Despite fully knowing how ridiculous she looks, a red glow begins leaking into her cheeks as Akira continues to maintain her on-guard position, unconsciously biting her lip. Noticing the green-eyed girl's brief fault in her composure, the other person couldn't hold back their intimidating expression of narrowing eyes with a mischievous smile replacing the grimace as they begin laughing at the officer's apparent attempt at a stoic face, "Awww honey, looook at you trying to be all scary and intimidating! You're soooo cute my dear komainu!"

The officer is caught a bit off guard from the ninja-cladded person's attitude which causes her to transfix her gaze onto the other girl more than usual, recollecting her stern composure, "Pardon me, but ma'am why in the hell would you think casually tossing knives at people during a killing game could _possibly_ be a good idea?"

The other girl pauses to tilt her head, obsidian black locks droop downwards as she looks at the officer with curiosity,"...Eh?! Woah for once I was caught off guard! What a twisted turn of events! Usually it is the mischievous foxes who sneak upon others. But this time it looks like a dear komainu has done the job. Eh whatever. My life...How much more of it remains, huh? The night is brief..."

The officer's briefly crashes for a moment in befuddlement as her eyebrows form a crease motion with pursed lips, she opens her mouth to respond, but all that comes out is silence as if she was still processing what the other girl just mentioned.

The other girl with the ninja appearance simply chuckles before waving a hand to dismiss the officer's thoughts as she leans her face close to properly eye Akira before she continues, "So dear komainu, who might you be, huh? Share your name and I may just trade you mine..."

"Komainu? My name is Akira? It's Officer Akira Nakashima actually, nice to meet you?", the introduction comes off as multiple questioning instead. From a distance, the officer spots a yellow blurred image waving in the air by the another girl in the cafeteria. Squinting her eyes, Akira reads the note with a perspective viewing, " _Komainu are lion guard dogs."_

"Alright then. My name is Inukai. Oh and we all have talents right? I am your super high school level modern day kunoichi", Inukai introduces herself.

At this introduction, the officer takes the time to analyze her new profound friend, or potential enemy, or even a strange mutual...she doesn't know their status yet. Covering the kunoichi's peachy complexed face is lengthy, long, obsidian black hair that touches the bottom of her chest. The style is evidently shown as neatly combed and straight, with this general pattern, matching bangs sweep to the right side of her face, unintentionally covering the right eye. Hitome reaches up to her face and upon feeling the touch of hair on her eyes, she promptly swipes the unnecessary strands away from the feature. The most interesting hair trait the grabs the officer's usual perpetual attention to detail was when she glances upwards and spots two salient parting of the girl's locks vertically poking away from her head almost like pointed dog ears. " _I guess that makes sense as to why the girl acts like a dangerously hyper puppy running amok",_ Akira thinks to herself as she moves onto Inu's attire.

The general appearance of the kunoichi's outfit just screams " _Warning, deadly ninja, run away you idiot"_ , fortunately the officer isn't exactly the type to run away from her problems, but it gives Akira more of a reason to face them head on and challenge it, same goes for Inu. Starting with the hakama sleeveless top with an amethyst coloring, the rough bordering along the bottom of the sleeves evidently look as if they were sliced off from a previously longer sleeve. Covering the top attire, the girl wears an opened black cardigan with a dark green sash wrapping around the overall outfit. On top of the bottom two layers of clothing is a tattered, ruby colored scarf around her neck with a jade magatama necklace associating with the occasional matching beats that would droop down around the neckline. To complete a traditional kunoichi look would be the matching black ninja pants covering her bottom half. For footwear, socks are seen as they are wore with geta sandals. A fit body structure is evident in the girl's in her arms and legs which Akira assumes would make sense for someone of her active talent but at the same time it doesn't really pop out as much, since it seems to match the kunoichi's build and frame in general.

Subtly peeking behind the ninja cladded girl, the officer takes notice of a navy colored katana case seeming as an attachment to her back. Akira wonders if there's actually a genuine sword in that belonging, but at the same time she hopes to not test her luck on probability anytime soon. Resting against Inu's waist is her hands covered by fingerless tekko gloves with only a portion of all fingers being revealed from the fabric, it wouldn't be a surprising to the officer if the girl deals with calluses on her fingers from the amount of times she grips onto weapons. Purplish splotches acts as a barrier of the kunoichi's normal skin complexion around the wrists, causing the officer to internally question what has this girl gone through, possibly asking her if they ever get the time to do so.

The officer's sounds off for the eighteenth time of the day, causing her to temporarily pause the current conversation to read over new information about a passenger on board. Akira sighs as she places the uneaten banana on top of the cafeteria table nearing her hips as she picks up the e-Passport. Tapping on the screen, the blinking icon on the passenger app is the first time to greet the officer, prompting her to click on it. When she does so, Akira presses on Inukai's name, instantly pulling up the kunoichi's information and photo. Upon first glance, a typical person would take the stealth skilled girl as intimidating and menacing type of being judging from the talent and physical appearance by itself. Although for the officer, the initial hostile impression quickly became overshadowed by the kunoichi's actions and character so far.

* * *

 _ **Hitome Inukai**_

 **Talent: SHSL Kunoichi**

 **Age: 18**

 **Birth Date: August 1st**

 **Height: 5'7"**

 **Weight: 112 lbs**

 **Blood Type: AB**

 **Likes: Dogs, Mythology, and Running**

 **Dislikes: Cats, Modernism, and Chocolate**

 **Other Notes: Hitome Inukai is a teenage girl who works as a traditional Japanese ninja in the 21st century. Going under the stage name of Inu in order to hide her true identity, she has assassinated countless people as well as gained important information as part of her job. It's been rumored that the young kunoichi was hired under a crime boss named Isayama Haruka but she seems to be an independent killer…**

* * *

Akira's eyes peep from the screen below, "So you're a…"

"An amazing, astonishing, wonderful, breathtaking, and stupendous modern day girl version of a ninja? Yuuuuupppie that is meeee!", Hitome answers.

"Yeah sure, let's go with that...Wait so that means you're a killer! You do realize that killing is illegal and I should arrest you from that confession, right?", the officer's realization hits her.

"Does that mean that Inukai has to _a-peel_ in court?", the kunoichi drags out the statement to get her intentional pun across.

Akira couldn't help but groan because even _she_ has to admit that was a good word play on the kunoichi's part. The other two people in the area laughs at this mishap of an interaction, even if one of them has straining vocal chords. The officer stares past the other girl to catch the sight of September cracking up with a low laugh and another girl she hasn't met yet attempting to hold back her laughter as if it was physically painful. Once the girl makes eye contact with the officer, in a split second any impulse to laugh vanish as the girl widens her eyes. Instantly, she sheepishly looks away and back onto the notebook in front of her. As her interest of this new person she hasn't properly introduced herself to, Akira decides to attend the matters with the kunoichi later and grabs a seat next to the last unknown passenger. Upon having the sense of her personal bubble being popped by the officer, the girl's shoulders instantly tense as she attempts to be subtle about her eye contact avoidance by doodling on a blank page of the notebook. Before introducing herself, the officer takes the time to analyze the appearance of the evident timid girl next to her.

Pure hazel eyes stare down at the paper, this action would normally cause the waves of shoulder length, chestnut brown locks to partially fall onto the side of her face, minus the exception of a pentagram hair clip securing the bands to the right. A cream color for the girl's skin complexion accompanies the golden framed glasses resting on the bridge of her nose, although a small showing of tan can be seen upon close inspection such as the officer is doing. Dangling from both ears are pentagram earrings. She also spots a beauty mark on the girl's left cheek and two dotting the right cheek. Moving onto her attire, it could be described as an occult theme would be a perfect way to sum up the general appearance. The officer wouldn't admit it due to the observation may be coming off as a bit rude but it's apparent that the other girl is basically all bone with no protein for her frame and build, needless to say she was scrawny with barely any muscle mass built in the arms or legs.

Starting with the top is a black t-shirt with a pentagram on it, inside the shape are small images the officer has never seen before, Akira takes a mental note to ask about that later. A matching color cloak touches the waistline as it hangs over her shirt with a pocket holding has a deck of what Akira assumes to be tarot cards from the shape and observation, but unlike typical cloaks, hers seems to be tied instead of pinned. For the bottoms, a dark blue skirt ends just above the ankles, transitioning into the reveal of black high heels to complete the outfit.

"Hi there, I'm Officer Akira Nakashima. It's a pleasure to meet you!", the officer straightens her posture and holds out her hand.

The other girl slowly turns to give Akira brief eye contact before darting their eyes back to the notebook, painfully ignoring the officer's friendly introduction gesture. This causes the officer to awkwardly use that same hand to run through her hair as if nothing happened while attempting to get to know the hazel-eyed, girl better, "What's your name? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

The girl replies with a very soft and low voice, barely audible like a whisper attached to a southern accent, "Hi, my name is Alice."

Akira smiles, "Oh, that's really pretty name! I'm the SHSL Police Officer from Hope's Peak Academy, what's your tal-"

"I'm sorry, but please go away", Alice interrupts.

The officer is taken aback from this sudden reaction, thinking she might have misunderstanding hearing she repeats, "Pardon?"

The girl stands up from her seat and momentarily narrows her eyes at the officer before staring back onto the tiled flooring, "Just leave me alone, okay?"

"Wait-", Akira reaches a comforting hand out towards the other girl's arm but before it could make contact with the skin, Alice snatches the notebook from the table and rushes out of the cafeteria. The officer leans back against the chair and can only let out a deep sigh as her eyes travel back to where September and Inukai were watching everything unfold.

"Wooow Hosohi got scared off by the Mezu! What a twisted turn of events!", Hitome makes her comment.

"The what?", Akira asks tirelessly.

"You know...Mezu as in the Gozu and Mezu that are the guards of hell!", the kunoichi responds.

The officer can't help but rub her temples, "Oh great", she glances at the cartographer with a tired smile, "Hey Sept, is the hour up yet?"

September just shrugs and instead says, "Everybody should be coming back soon, but I just find it ironic how Mayfield trusts the kunoichi more than the police officer."

"I'm debating on running after her, but at the same time I need to be here for everyone else, what do you think?", Akira asks a bit unsure of her next actions.

"I personally think some people need time alone to cope with this killing game. I mean, you are a police officer, no? It would be a better game if you were the one to go corrupt and the talented killer…", they point to Inukai, "...were to become the hero and protagonist instead. I would not blame Mayfield for being quite suspicious of you, Nakashima because of how you practically held Inu at gunpoint while threatening her."

"Protagonist? What the-? Sept, you're not really helping with all this _better killing game_ talk. Plus, I was holding a banana, what exactly can I do with that?", Akira questions.

The kunoichi waves her hand in the air like a child waiting to be called on by the teacher, so the cartographer addresses her and Inu answers, "Ohhhh, you could have thrown banana like a boomerang and slice Inukai-chan's eyeballs!"

"How is that-Nevermind, I don't even want to know", the officer waves off the thought, "Anyways, what was Alice's talent? I can only guess it related to pentagrams."

"She is the SHSL Occult Researcher, which makes it even more ironic you could scare her off so easily", September chuckles as Akira rolls her eyes before hearing the sound of her device go off.

Grabbing the e-Passport from its original position on top of the table, the officer unlocks the lock screen and proceeds to the informational app for the passengers the second to last time. She taps on the icon to bring her to the roster of all the talented people she has encountered so far. There is one blank left, which she assumes belongs to the mysterious person the officer recently rescued. Pressing down on Alice's name, the screen pulls up the runaway girl's information and picture. If it wasn't for their awkward first proper introduction, the officer could sense the girl having the timid and shy trait judging from the photo. Hazel eyes are filled with worry and concern when Alice's eyebrows are furrowed while not sharing direct eye contact with the camera at the time as she seems to be looking downwards, away from the viewer. Her lips curl into an apparent frown to match the cautious tone of the picture in general. After feeling uncomfortable for a couple of moments, Akira begins scanning the remainder portions of the screen for data about the girl, perhaps finding a way to understand her more.

* * *

 _ **Alice Mayfield**_

 **Talent: SHSL Occult Researcher**

 **Age: 17**

 **Birth Date: July 20th**

 **Height: 4'8"**

 **Weight: 103 lbs**

 **Blood Type: O+**

 **Likes: Herbal Tea, Dark places, and reading**

 **Dislikes: Soda, sports, and pop music**

 **Other Notes:** **A shy anti social outcast, unable to talk to people in a big group nor does she even want to. A loner by nature, preferring to spend time alone in her dark room reviewing her research.**

* * *

"Kira-chan, hey!"

 _But that doesn't matter when you're here with me_

 _For this is meant to be our revival_

The sound of the cafeteria door opening is heard with Effie, Kjartan, and Sayomi walking in as the second group to return from their exploration. This breaks Akira out of her thoughts as she places the device back onto the table and greets the musical trio, "Hey guys, find anything good?"

The variety queen takes the seat to right of the officer that was previously occupied by the occult researcher, "Oh girl, you have no idea!"

After a bit of mindless chatter between the two groups, more of the groups begin returning to the cafeteria and choosing a seat to stay in during the meeting. Everybody somehow manages to fit on the long table in the center that seated twelve passengers at the time while the crew are only missing Alice, Eclair, Enzo, Keefe, Kotarou, Kuzuri, Nakai, and the unknown person. Starting from the left end of the table is September with Hitome sitting in front of them, Setsuka sitting next to the left of Akira with Etano in front of her, Shiori in front of the officer, Sayomi to the right of Akira with Crystelle in front of her, Effie with Kjartan in front of her, and finishes off with Santiago on the right end of the table with Ayano in front of him. A few minutes pass with Akira glancing at the door hoping for the last exploration group to arrive and/or Alice, but once she realizes they were a no-show, the officer stands up from her seat.

The officer clasps her hands together, efficiently earning the attention of those in the cafeteria, "Okay guys-"

"Guess who's here to officially get this party started!", Nakai bursts the door open and makes a dramatic entrance with Kotarou and Kuzuri following behind, sipping their coffee drinks nonchalantly.

Akira raises an eyebrow and brush off the disturbance, "Nice to see you guys finally join us as if we're not on a strict time schedule…", she glances at Setsuka's clock on the e-Passport with worry before looking back up, "Well, with no further interruptions, let's get this meeting started."

Looking around the table, it was evident that some trios were eager to share their discoveries, while some have a look of uncertainty sketched on their faces, and two members of a group appear downright terrified of what they witnesses, prompting the officer to continue, "So, which group would like to share what they found first?"

 _There's nowhere else to go but up cause we know the sky's the limit._

 _We know the sky's the limit._

* * *

 **Hey guys! According to Google Docs before I started typing the AN, this whole update was 15K words and 35 pages like holy damn I did that! Yeah, now I'm really glad I split this update with the previous one because then that would've been nearing 20K to say the least!**

 **DRA: FCD: RECAP: This being a flashback chapter, the five groups of trio explore various areas of the plane and discover certain clues as to what happened while Akira's group deal with the issue that is Ayumi. Feelings about the motive and the killing game has been revealed by certain passengers ranging from Akira feeling stressed with the need to serve her duty to Kjartan thinking it's a huge reality show. Also we get to meet the final three passengers! To sum up this update, friendships were made, tension was created, and possible shipping opportunities have emerged!**

 **Regarding last update's QFFR, I'll just somehow figure out a way to make a map especially after this update of helping to explain where the areas of the plane are located!**

 **QFFR: For every OC creator in this story, theoretically, just theoretically if your character were to have a different last name, what would it be? Totally asking just for curiosity and not for some potential future project after this story's completed, pffft.**

 **QOTC: As always, how'd you like the (extremely lengthy) chapter in general? Now that every character has been introduced with a bit more fleshed out character in this update, has your opinion changed on any of the previously introduced characters? The final three characters have been properly introduced, which one is your favorite and least favorite? As always, the OC creators from the newly introduced ones in this update, lemme know how I did with them! Now since every character has been introduced, finally I get to ask who's your overall favorite character and least favorite so far, along with me being curious if you guys ship any ships?**

 **FCD Cast Art Shoutouts: Huge thanks and shoutout once again to _BlancPhoenix,_ who took the time to draw Eclair and September (who is the one on the right)! Be sure to check out their art from the links in my profile! I'm still amazed at how quick you drew them and they look really great, amazing job man! **

**PSA: Once again, speaking of my profile, I have the _real_ poll up for the now 8 FTEs in this chapter! I know what you're probably thinking, "Holy damn how am I going to juggle 8 amazing FTEs, doesn't that seem a lot?" Well, we're going to go along the regular schedule of the 5 FTEs happening and then _ _ _ so that's why! I'm actually kinda surprised at the poll results from the practice round, but who knows, maybe it'll really change with everyone introduced and the choice of 8 characters! Oh also, if your character gets one of the 8 main FTE, it doesn't necessarily mean they're automatically going to die...I already have this story planned out with the killers, victims, survivors, mastermind, traitor, etc so if a character who gets a FTE happens to die within the same chapter, then that's just purely coincidence tbh. Also another note, if your character isn't in the top 8 for FTEs, it doesn't mean they're not going to _have_ one if that makes sense, like what I'm planning on doing is having the remaining 11 passengers interact with each other or whatever they're doing on the plane while Akira's doing her FTEs but it won't be as lengthy or detailed as the 8 FTEs will but everyone still gets some FTE screentime and a bit of development if that makes sense?**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this really, really, really long update with this being a flashback chapter of the groups exploring plus the literal aftermath of Ayumi's debut, and that everyone has a nice day/night wherever you are, catch you guys in the next update AKA the meeting in the cafeteria and the first three FTEs!**

 **P.S: Thank you guys for your concerns for my sleep schedule haha! I actually had to take a day off on Tuesday because i still didn't recover from sleep deprivation and it's like one of those things that suddenly hits you when you try to fix it quick, whoops never again on that because it just feels really refreshing to write when you're wide awake!**

 **Fun fact: Alice and I share the exact same birthday and age and where we're from so she's literally my twin haha! Minus the fact that I actually like people...to an extend of course. Another one is the song that Effie and Sayomi sing together with the lyrics showing up in every group exploration is an original that I made specifically for this update! Initially I wanted to pull a Grey's Anatomy and put in Chasing Cars or How to Save a Life when it came to Ayumi's part but we already know she lives so where's the fun in that if we already know what happened haha, also I figured it would be to wrap the chapter's name into the song they've been collabing on!**

 **NDRV3 Thoughts: On a scale from 1-10 for being spoiled, I would say I'm at a 11...Because I didn't realize going into a past DR character tag on Tumblr would get me spoiled but here we are! Anyways I'm salty especially because the whole game is basically a huge, OH, YOU THOUGHT? All the executions were just downright screwed up in terms of brutality because literally all of them were pretty bloody for the most part and it really makes you feel bad for the killers because of how brutal it was. I'm still lowkey confused about the plot in general because there's so many people saying different things as to what happened? Yeah, the first chapter really got me because it turns out _ was the killer and I'm just like reaaally now of all times they decide to _ _ _ _ _ just to _ some _, that was messed up. Or, y'know probably because literally one out of six favs was a survivor and it was the one that I could've swore would've died somehow, like wow. Anywho, also because of NDRV3 i have to switch up some motives and plot twists because I was going to use the exact same for this story smh.**


	11. Chapter One: Order in The (Food) Court

**Chapter One** **: The Sky's The Limit:** Order in The (Food) Court

 _Looking around the table, it was evident that some trios were eager to share their discoveries, while some have a look of uncertainty sketched on their faces, and two members of a group appear downright terrified of what they witnessed, prompting the officer to continue, "So, which group would like to share what they found first?"_

* * *

"I figured you would be here."

The sound of rattling from the chains holding up a black punching bag gradually ceases as the attacker steadies it with their hands on both sides. They peek past the object to make eye contact with the source of the voice and the sight of familiar hazy blue eyes. Setsuka Aihara leans against the fitness center's metallic door frame with a knowing expression on her face, as if she sees a different version of herself in her friend. The sight of the figure skater instantly sends a slight wave of relief through the other person. They face her while maneuvering a white hand towel to wipe off a glossy shine on the forehead from the intense workout beforehand, right before the salty drops invades their green eyes. "You know, for someone that only knew me for what, a couple of hours? You know me so well already."

"Kira-chan, trust me when I say I know a stressed out athlete when I see one." The skater begins walking towards the center of the room, crossing her arms in the process.

"And what exactly makes you think I'm stressed?" The officer place heavy hands covered with padding on opposing sides of her hip. The darken mesh of the kickboxing gloves touches the polyester fabric of the black tights wrapping around Akira's legs.

"Because beating something that can't hit you back and as annoying as Monokuma is the second best thing to relieve some steam?" Setsuka answers the other girl's question with yet another question.

"Well, you're not wrong Suka-chan." The officer breaks the pair's momentarily eye contact before directing her focus back to the heavy duty object positioned in front of her. She drives her right hand into the red leathered surface, causing the bag to swing forward before briefly returning to its original position. The apparent boxer withdraws the clenching fist before switching to her left hand to continue the steady momentum. Her thick ponytail bounces in sync with the girl's punches as she continues the conversation in rhythm, "It's just that…", she lands a punch. "I have to…" Another hit. "Figure out how…" The bag swings forward. "To escape from…" Her eyebrows furrow. "...this hell plane."

Akira recalls the new information that was disclosed during the meeting back in the cafeteria, concentrating to connect the dots with a steady mind.

* * *

" _Of course the party didn't start till we walked in, so I suggest we go first. And by suggest, I mean that everyone else shut their mouth."_

 _Effie Iizuka, Kjartan Johannesen, and Sayomi Watanabe gradually lower their raised hands as the celebrity trio shoot an urgent glare at Nakai Ocha. While the remaining eight seated passengers had their own reactions of disdain towards the tea brewer, Akira Nakashima takes a mental note of the group's urgency of wanting to share their discoveries. She turns herself to face the group remaining on their feet, quirking an eyebrow as the officer looks at the caffine inducing drinks in Kotarou Nakastu's and Kuzuri Inanime's hands. "Please do tell."_

" _For starters, I am quite sure the library might be a great resource for some of you classless tasters. Perhaps you'll actually learn what great quality tea is supposed to taste like." The tea brewer expectedly looks at Crystelle Villiere in which the classical musician turns her head and twirls a light-brown strand of hair around her index finger with a slight smirk._

 _Kotarou loosely crosses his arms with the beverage held in right hand as the electrician picks up where the former left off, "Speaking of the library, there could be a chance we could figure out what the hell is happening on this plane," he shrugs before continuing, "...or at least possibly find out its history."_

 _September Simon raises their hand. "Question, do you honestly think Monokuma is dumb enough to possibly leave clues to assist us?"_

" _I would not take into account the bear's intelligence, but perhaps he would drop a bit of evidence to provide us with a head start in this evident game of cat and mouse you may say." Ayano Igarashi speaks out as she fiddles with a pen in her hand, the logician's brown eyes directed to the journal placed on the table._

 _Sayomi squints, "So, you're comparing us to smelly rodents? That's kinda gross, Aya-chan."_

" _Not exactly, Sayo-chan," Santiago Lopez repositions the silver framed eyewear resting on the bridge of his nose. The basketball player glances around the table, "...Something tells me that damn bear is more fucked up than he appears."_

 _The dark-haired, beta tester scoffs, "Oh really? Could it be because, oh, pardon my French, because that sadistic fuck is torturing our loved ones via livestream every two hours?"_

* * *

"Earth to Officer Nakashima-san, somebody in there?"

The police officer snaps out of thought as her attacks on the punching bag gradually slows to a full stop. She begins sliding off the boxing gloves from her hands while apologizing to the figure skater, "Oh, sorry Miss Aihara! I was just-"

Setsuka nonchalantly waves a hand in dismissal and walks to the mini refrigerator on the left side of the fitness room. "It's fine Kira-chan, sometimes I get lost in thought while working out or rehearsing for any upcoming events."

Akira agrees, "At this point, it's practically muscle memory."

Setsuka then opens the small, glass door belonging to the fridge and pulls out two water bottles before shutting it once more. When the athlete turns around, she notices the sweat inducing officer sitting in one of the two, brown-woven, lounge chairs. A white towel rag rests behind the girl's lightly olive neck across the shoulders. The gem cladded skater takes a seat in the other unoccupied chair and hands Akira a bottle of water in which the latter quickly responds with a curt, "Thank you."

After unscrewing the plastic lid from the bottle and taking a sip of water, the officer looks over to her friend and sighs, "Honestly, with everything that happened today, I feel like I haven't really gotten a chance to actually check up on everyone. I mean, it's one thing to have the ability to read body language and just assume how someone is feeling, but sometimes all it takes is verbally asking someone if they're okay. You know what I mean?"

The other girl crosses her right boot over the left leg and nods. She then begins readjusting the obsidian colored bun sitting on her head while answering, "You're right, that makes sense! Especially with this motive floating around, it's practically impossible for somebody to _not_ get affected."

Setsuka's grip on her bottle starts to tighten when she comes to a realization in mind, "Which is why this whole situation is just so frustrating."

"Suka-chan…"

"Whoever this mastermind is, they're just so selfish! How dare they throw us into this game and toy with our mentality as if we aren't humans but just experiments where one of us is bound to blow up any minute? I can't believe I actually have a chance at dying."

"We don't know for sure that-"

The figure skater's posture straightens as she sits up with an accusing look in her eyes. "Says the one that would've lunged at Monokuma back at the theater if it weren't for those lock restraints."

Akira uses her right index and middle to massage her temple in remembrance. "Yeah, yeah that definitely wasn't one of my best moments. Look, I'm not ruling out the possibility of someone actually going through with murder, but hopefully it wouldn't have to come down to that. A crime scene definitely isn't exactly a pretty view."

"I just...I can't afford to die, Kira-chan. After my older sister…" the glow in her blue eyes is evidently dim as they trail off, "I'm the last hope to my parents and I refuse to let them down by dying."

The officer's eyes briefly darted to the sight of a blank TV monitor hanging at the front of the space before returning to the figure skater's slightly trembling hands. She then gently lays a comforting hand on Setsuka's shoulder, "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay as in let everyone know that once it becomes night time, to go rest and we'll have to re approach an escape plan some time tomorrow with fresh minds," Akira instructs before using the same hand to pat her friend's shoulder with encouragement.

The figure skater gives a single thumbs up with a small smile in response, "Sounds like a plan. But what are you doing in the meantime?"

"Right now I'm going back to my room to go take a shower." The green eyed girl dabs a thin line of sweat from her forehead with the rag.

"And here I thought you were one of those super sweaty cops while on duty," Setsuka jokes.

This causes the officer to let out a laugh. "Oh please, I _know_ I could pull off the all natural glistening look if I wanted to. But it's my cooling comfort over my sparkling appearance my dear figure skater."

The two girls stand from their seats and begin making their way to the door as Akira announces, "But really, afterwards I'm heading over to the infirmary to go check on our mystery guest and see if she's awake yet."

With Setsuka set with a new task in mind, the figure skater rushes her exit by traveling the opposite direction towards the cafeteria to spread the plan to her fellow passengers. Akira turns to begin walking to the elevators across the hallway when she spots two familiar pairs of eyes; light brown ones belonging to a certain massage therapist and the other associating with the surgeon, a combination of teal and red orbs side by side, staring from the general left direction. Spotting the mischievous glint in her eyes, the officer's content look is replaced with an expected one as she waits for Eclair to state her comment.

The girl with blonde tips on the ends of the dark hair, breaks in her greeting with a question, "My, my, my here we have Miss Aihara and Miss Nakashima parting from...dare I say, an intimate rendezvous?"

Akira's eyes widen. "What are you talking abou-"

Confusions strikes Enzo as he scrunches his nose. "Ah, mi medica, what is this intimate rendezvous you speak of?"

Eclair slightly turns to her company and explains with a bit of higher voice tone to attempt to spread her innocence across. "Why, is it not quite obvious? Handcuffs On The Go over here," she points to the athletic dressed officer, "is covered in sweat and with evidently flushed cheeks. Then you have the Bedazzled Skater Girl rushing away with that idiotic unworldly smile on her face. Just put two and two together, my masseur."

Usually the Italian views his fast learning skill as a blessing whenever it comes to topics relating to his talent, but this certain hands on experience causes him to think otherwise. Enzo nimbly tugs at the collar of the white-button up jacket as he bashfully glances at the officer, "Oh."

Akira only scoffs in response.

From the last encounter the officer and surgeon shared back in the infirmary, Akira quickly realized it would be best to just let the teasing remarks go. Especially when they're placed in a time sensitive atmosphere with the motive making its appearance every two hours she figures nobody has the time to mess around with pointless bickering. The green-eyed girl then looks at the masseur and changes the subject with something that should have been addressed upon the sight of the two. "Since you two are here, what's the status update on our mystery girl?"

The duo share a look between each other before Eclair steps forward and tells her, "When I placed her on a line of naloxone, it started to reverse the effects. The patient is currently still stable, and I would not put it past me if she were to be awake at the moment."

"What else?" The previous interaction between Eclair and Enzo may have been brisk but it certainly didn't go unnoticed by the officer, causing her to push for details, "There's something you aren't telling me, Stuart-san."

"She found marks on her body." Enzo gestures to the surgeon next to him.

"Marks?" Akira turns to the white-colored, kimono wearing girl for further explanation.

Her messy ponytail bobs in place as a grin etches its way to the surgeon's face, starting from the corner of her lips as she begins to repeat the memory of the injured passenger. "Ah, yes the marks. Quite frankly it baffles me as to why Magic Fingers over here started freaking out from the first look of them. The hues and discoloration shines upon a sleeping beauty such as our mystery girl. If only you fools truly understand the art of the human anatomy." Eclair rubs her black leggings together in anticipation. "It was just so beautiful!"

* * *

 _After Akira made her exit from the pharmacy portion of the West Wing, Keefe Ng Jun Hui travels back into the infirmary with a water bottle in hand. Noticing that the officer wasn't with the tracker when he returned, Enzo questions him, "Mi amico, where's Akira?"_

 _"She left to the cafeteria because the meeting with the other passengers is supposed to start pretty soon," replies the tracker. His dark green eyes finds the mysterious girl continuing to rest in the single patient bed nearly the front of him with Eclair making her rounds of analysis closely. He goes to sit in an unoccupied seat next to the massage therapist and eyes the medical personnel jotting down notes to record her findings. Keefe turns his head to face Enzo and asks in a barely audible mutter, "Has she done anything concerning while I was away?"_

 _The masseur's eyes flickers from the purple-haired passenger's lips to meet his gaze as he mentally kicks himself for this habit occurring during close proximity. Suddenly remembering the question, Enzo shakes his head and replies, "Not from what I've seen. Aside from the giggling and rambling every now and then, I would think mi medica is just doing her job."_

 _A gasp from said surgeon pulls the pair from their close conversation. Looking up from their seats, they watch Eclair as she lifts a portion of solid black fabric of the tank top resting on the girl's hip and gingerly trace something with her index finger. The duo immediately stands up to see what all the commotion was about and walk towards the medical personnel, stopping as soon as they could view the sight up close. It doesn't take long for the boys to recognize what Eclair was referring to, which was the girl was marveling at the glimpse of garnish purple coloring of marks painted across the slumber figure's hip. Enzo was the first of the trio to take a step back from the revelation and runs a hand through his auburn feathery, short-length hair. He speaks up, "How, how did she get this? Maybe she fell or accidentally ran into something hard?"_

 _Eclair pulls back and twirls the end of her hair around a finger. "With a bruising that size and the coloration practically matching tracker boy's hair, I would not assume that this is from just an accident."_

 _"What are you inferring Stuart-san?" Keefe questions. In the back of his mind, there's only so many options as to where this injury came from and he's pretty sure he could narrow it down to one possible explanation._

 _"As a doctor, my diagnosis is that this bruising and the many others originated from heavy blows and I'm not talking about the pleasant kind either. Whoever did this, wanted Ocean Eyes here to suffer and the girl couldn't stand a chance with all the opioid drugs injected into her system." The surgeon confirms the tracker's suspicions._

* * *

"What I'm getting from this is that not only is our girl suffering from a drug overdose but the aftermath of a physical torture, correct?" Akira questions, pursuing her lips in thought.

The masseur crosses his arms across his white-fabric, cladded chest and shifts his standing weight to the right leg and answers, "Unfortunately. I'm not quite sure what is going on exactly, but hopefully we make it to a safe place in no time. We just have to stick together until then, right?"

This confirmation causes the officer to drive a hand through her darken locks and meets the eyes of the duo in front of her. "I completely agree with you Russo-san, but It seems like we've been getting more questions than answers the longer we stay here," pointing a thumb over her left shoulder, Akira then provides instruction to the massage therapist and surgeon, "I'm assuming you two are heading to the cafeteria? Go grab some refreshments and head back to your suites before the two hours are up. It's best to call it a night for everyone's safety and we'll try to regroup tomorrow with a plan."

"Suona come un piano!" Enzo clasps his hands together. Although from the looks of confusion from the two fellow passengers, he tucks a hand in the inside of the khaki pants and clears his throat. "Oh sorry, I said it sounds like a plan! We'll see you tomorrow mi amica!"

"Be sure to schedule me in for one of your private training sessions, officer!" Eclair winks. Soon after her statement, the masseur proceeds to begin dragging the surgeon along by the hem of her white sleeves.

Akira watches the pair of figures walk away from her position in amusement before searching for the elevators on the first level of the aircraft. After a brief walk around the floor, she locates the elevators and goes to push the dim button with an upwards arrow sketched onto it. The doors open and the officer steps inside, pressing the button to enclose herself within the space. As the box rides up to the third level, she places both hands behind her back to promptly rest on top of the silver railing attached to the wall touching her backside. This piece of silence combining with the sound of soft hums of the metal gears shifting in place provides the girl a chance to recollect her thoughts of the encounter with the other passengers back in the cafeteria.

* * *

 _"You honestly think it's physically possible for that rejected, midget panda to manage to kidnap all of our loved ones? That is preposterous! As if the Beauforte hierarchy would be that weak and defenseless!" Shiori Beauforte counters the beta tester's comment. Sitting next to the outspoken violinist, Etano Meleah nods in agreement._

 _"Yo, I totally-I mean, I concur with the Beauforte madam with her claim of inaccuracy." The surfer supports her argument with a new pattern attached. The response was met with silence and twelve sets of bewildered stares from his fellow passengers. He begins fidgeting with the black lei around his neck, furrowing his eyebrows at the apparent confusion. "Why are y'all lookin' at me like that? Is there something in my hair?"_

 _"Woooaaaaah, who are you and what have you done with Ryuu-san?" Hitome Inukai dramatically gasps and leans her head forward for a closer inspection._

 _Creases form on the white lab coat that's clings to the upper body of the surfer's body; effectively hiding the black button-up, long sleeve shirt underneath, as he starts wavering his hands. He brings his usual lazy drawl to a more energetic and clear tone by announcing, "That's Doctor Meleah to you, my dear Inukai."_

 _"Never underestimate the power of white," Kjartan comments._

 _The classical musician turns to face Etano and intentively begins tapping on the glass belonging to the goggles against his face. The mixture of blue and purple in her eyes narrows as she squints. "Perhaps the suction of the goggles brought his brain cells together, it's a miracle honestly."_

 _This causes the surfer to promptly slap Crystelle's hand away from his face, shaking his head. The officer decides to assist in moving along the purpose of the meeting and compliments Etano._

 _"You look really sophisticated and intelligent as a nobel peace prize winner, Et-er, Doctor Meleah. How about you tell us about your group's discoveries?"_

 _"Certainly!"_

* * *

A lone ding emitting from the elevator snaps Akira out of her wandering thoughts. With the metal doors open, the girl steps out of the previously enclosed space and into the hallway of the third level. While rounding a corner towards her suite, the officer abruptly bumps into the shoulders of a passing person, apparently roughly enough to knock the contents out of their hands. As the small stack of papers suddenly transformed to a non sequitur mess on the metallic floor. Immediately the owner of a small and black, pointed ahoge bends down in his jeans to begin recollecting the scattered information. With his head facing the floor, he didn't take notice of the officer before saying, "Holy shit, watch where you're goin-" He looks up to meet the sight of a pair of matching color eyes. The beta-tester's face evidently softens at the recognition of a friend, making the scowl vanishing from his pale features. "Oh, hey Nakashima."

Her first instinct is to feverently apologize, "Oh my god, I didn't see you there, Inanime-san! Sorry about that, here…" She squats down to his eye level and hands him the assorted pieces that had fallen on her side of the hallway. Once all of the papers has been returned to Kuzuri, he hops up from his low position, carrying the stack of contents with his right hand and holds out the other towards the girl.

"Apology accepted." The beta tester leans his weight back to pull his friend off the ground. Once the officer was back on her feet, he nonchalantly points a thumb over his shoulder to mention, "I'm actually just heading to the data center that the Wonder Trio talked about during the meeting. Care to join me?"

"Considering that you're a beta tester, it sounds pretty reasonable to check out the data center." Akira comments and then proceeds to nod. "Yeah, I'll meet you there in a little bit. I'm going to go take a shower since all of this…" She gestures to her flush cheeks and thin line of sweat covering her forehead, "...makes me feel really sweaty and gross at the moment, so I'll see you later!"

"See ya, Nakashima-san."

After receiving the casual response from the beta tester, Akira turns away to begin walking in the opposite direction towards her room. Once the officer steps into her bathroom, she nonchalantly tosses the sweat inducing towel aside onto the counter next to the sink. She then leans into the open space for the shower and turns on the water to warm up before peeling the athletic clothing off her skin. Shortly after walking onto the ragged ground that's gradually becoming wet from the steady stream of water, Akira takes a deep breath, subsequently inhaling the relaxing steam provided by the mini sauna of a shower. Clear thoughts immediately flood her mind as the officer begins to recall the continuation of events that occurred during the meeting.

* * *

 _Following the explanation of what Etano, Santiago, and Setsuka discovered during their portion of the expedition, the rest of the passengers lean back into their chairs to process the information._

 _"Is it really that surprising that a chemistry lab would be next to a pharmacy and the infirmary?" Kotarou voices out his opinion and goes to support it with a follow up. "Wouldn't that prove useful for anyone that feels sick or whenever girls are on their...you know."_

 _From her seat, Shiori folds her arms together before leaning forward to bluntly ask, "Hey stupide, what is the dot at the end of a sentence called?"_

 _Confused brownish eyes with a mix of green meet a pair of violet eyes with a mix of challenge in them as the electricist cautiously answers, "...A period?"_

 _"Not such a dirty word now is it?" The violinist quirks an eyebrow as the remaining girls exchange a knowing look around the table. Kotarou awkwardly scratches the back of his head, causing the tools around his waist to jiggle and shift._

 _He mutters a quick, "yeah" in response._

 _The group enters a brief moment of a slightly uneasy silence before Santiago breaks it. He clears his throat before mentioning, "Well, both of the infirmary and pharmacy appeared to be completely stocked when we checked. Safe to say that we should be good in case someone tries to…" Trailing off from finishing the negative thought, the Canadian basketball player casts a downward glance towards the surface of the table._

 _"Yeah man, we also have Doc on board with us to patch up anybody!" Etano speaks up while shooting a comforting look towards the right end of the table where Santiago sits. The Samoan holds a thumb up in his right hand in complete assurance. "She's the Ultimate Surgeon for a reason guys, so there's nothin' to worry about."_

 _"I'm not quite sure about having the Doctor and Ultimate Pervert as the same person counts as something to not worry about." Sayomi comments before adding on, "I just want to look out for everyone, you know?" A slight shudder courses through the variety queen as she remembers her first encounter with the medical professional. The celebrity recalls shaking hands with the pure white, kimono wearing girl, only for the latter to hold onto her hand longer than necessary. Although Sayomi never shies away from upholding her signature smile, the brunette sacrifices a portion of her comfort in exchange._

 _The blue-eyed, figure skater agrees, "What Sayo-chan said makes sense." This causes the variety queen to snap out of her thoughts._

 _Akira sighs, "Look, as much as Doctor Stuart is an...interesting character, so far she's been accomplishing her job in regards of her medical performance."_

 _The dark-green, hoodie wearing basketball player chuckles, "Yes, that's right. Even though the girl uses medical words beyond my understanding, she definitely seemed like she knows what she's doing. Kinda like how I am with my teammates on the court."_

 _Kjartan decides to shift the subject at hand with a direct question. "Well darlings, speaking of people occupying the infirmary, shall we discuss the elephant in the room?" The royal-blue eyed, radio host ruffles his sandy-blond, hair once he acquires everyone's attention. The Norwegian smirks at the amount of peaking interest he obtains from his tablemates towards the question._

 _Although, his expression falters a bit upon the kunoichi asking a question of her own. "Eh?!" Hitome hastily looks around the cafeteria before turning her attention back towards the radio host just so she could bark an aggressive statement. "I don't see a grey, floppy-eared beast. Why must you lie to us, Hakutaku?!"_

 _Kjartan quickly apologizes, "Sorry my dear, but that was a figure of speech." He holds both of his hands in the air as a sign of surrendering._

 _The dark-haired, kunoichi momentarily eyes him suspiciously before returning to her normal state with an upbeat, "Okay!"_

 _For someone that tends to lose track of her thoughts, ironically, Effie is the person to steer the passengers back to a main topic. "Um guys, speaking of things not actually in the room...Is someone missing?" This prompts majority of the tablemates to begin mentally performing a headcount among themselves._

 _Ayano taps her chin and comments, "Why yes, from what I can assume, every search group consisted of exactly three members, correct?" Multiple nods occurred in response before she continues, "Excluding Nakashima-san, then there should be fifteen people here including myself."_

 _Effie speaks up again. "Huh, there's only fourteen of us." The youtaite slides an olive hand along the rim of the grey hat resting on her head, touching the ribbon material wrapping around it. She goes to restate her previous question with a different phrasing. "In that case, then who's missing?"_

 _"Oooooh, Inukai-chan knows the answer! Pick me! Pick me!" The Kunoichi begins frantically waving her hand in the air._

 _Effie calls on her with a tone similar to a teacher picking on a student, just with a hint of her Scottish accent in the mix. "Okay Inu, what do you have for us?"_

 _"It is the small and frisky, Hososhi!" This earned several confused expressions from the passengers._

 _September figures they should step in as their Kunoichi friend's personal translator. The French cartographer simply explains, "She's talking about Alice Mayfield, the Ultimate Occult Researcher. In retrospect, she is a very quiet person that was seen carrying her black journal around. The one with a bunch of pentagram merchandise on her."_

 _"Yeaaaah! There was so many pointy-points on those shape drawings that Inukai-chan did not want to upset her and get cursed with voodoo or mysterious forces from tiny Hososhi!" Her russet-brown eyes remains wide as Hitome adds on to September's explanation._

 _"So yeah, she was in our search group." The cartographer states as they tuck a strand of dark-brown hair behind their ear._

 _Kuzuri casts in his input, "So...why isn't she here?"_

 _The cartographer shoots a look towards the police officer. "Why don't you ask that to Akira?"_

 _The officer in question crosses her arms in defense. "It wasn't my fault that she fled the scene after witnessing Inukai-san and I, um...talking?"_

 _September points a thumb towards the matching eye-color, officer. They evidently shatter her attempt of a lie with a smart remark. "Last time I checked the dictionary, I do not recall Inu throwing a blade at your head and you utilizing a banana as a weapon was considered as a normal conversation, policier. You scared the poor fille with that authoritative, demanding, and intimidating demeanor you have going on there."_

 _Immediately, Akira uncrosses her arms at their accusations, not caring about the slight blush appearing on her cheeks as she tries to refute, "I am not intimidating or demanding in the slightest!"_

 _"Make that in denial too." Kuzuri cracks a joke as Kotarou swiftly high-fives the beta tester much to the officer's annoyance._

 _Stroking his lengthy, greyish-black hair as if it's a snake, Nakai cannot help but join in on poking fun against Akira. "That's rich coming from the police chick that charged me like a damn missile and wrongfully tied me to this exact chair." The tea brewer peers over at Etano, flashing the surfer a smug grin as he continues, "If someone was to be bounded and gagged like an animal after that fight, it should've been Seaweed Brain over there." His lips curl into a broader smile upon noticing the Samoan's composure beginning to tense. Light-brown eyes glare back at Nakai from behind the translucent lab goggles resting on the surfer's face._

 _Noticing the rising tension between the pair matching the time the prior incident happened, the officer looks at Etano with her soften, green-eyes. Akira goes to try to calm him down with a soothing voice which she tend to use while working her job. "Hey Meleah-san, don't listen to that asshole. He's not worth it, be the better person."_

 _Crystelle surprisingly comes to his defense as well. The classical musician twirls the ends of her light-coffee, colored hair as she nonchalantly speaks, "I truly recall you, musty behemoth attempting to attack me, so Mister Meleah proceeded to come to my aid." The blue iris interwines with the purple hue in her eyes, creating a minor sparkle as Crystelle resumes her piece. "Although, for all we know, that might possibly be your secret kink. I still need to drown my orbs with bleach from that horrific sight of you not appearing to have been phased by Miss Nakashima's actions, but indeed you appeared to be particularly comfy instead."_

 _"Of course, I'm not complaining too much, because who in their right mind would complain when a girl as hot as Nakashima ties you up?" The shirtless tea brewer then dares to shoot a not-so subtle wink at the officer from where he remains standing._

 _Akira bites down on her tongue to physically restrict herself from releasing certain colorful language out of impulse, so instead she settles for sending a piercing glare in response. She then resorts to just rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Did you hear that?" She pauses as a brief moment of silence passes. "That's the sound of us needing to get back to the relevant topic at hand relating to Mayfield-san's absence."_

 _Santiago questions, "Should someone look for her?"_

 _Shiori bluntly answers, "I guess that you're right. One of you peasants should go find that souris surnaturelle folle and make sure the blonde nuisance hasn't killed her already." The room's atmosphere briskly changes from the previous lively mood to an uneasy and unsettling one within an instant. The violinist takes a look around the sitting area only to have everyone gazing back at her with a serious facial expression spreading across their faces. "What?"_

 _"Nobody needs to hear that right now!" Several of the passengers are taken aback from Effie's immediate outburst towards the violet-eyed, girl._

 _That automatically fires up the shorter French girl preparing to counter in return. "Why would I listen to what une folle like you would say? I'm not apologizing for being the only realistic and sensible person on this plane!"_

 _Akira straightaway interrupts the pair before the potential argument escalates any further. "Actually, I have news that the newcomer is still recovering in the infirmary. The surgeon, the massage therapist, and the tracker are with her right now, just to make sure that nothing happens." She goes on to suggest, "Remember that Monokuma is the biggest threat to everyone, even to the newcomer. Let's just make sure he doesn't do anything to Mayfield-san, since she's by herself at the moment."_

 _September responds from their observations from earlier. "Since Alice seems more comfortable with Inu than Akira, then the Kunoichi should be the one to go find her."_

 _"Are you sure that letting a trained killing machine be alone with her is a good idea?" The figure skater questions the cartographer wearing their cat-eye, glasses._

 _"Awww, you don't trust Inukai-chan, yuki-onna?" Hitome whines from her seat._

 _Kotaru places both hands on his hips, narrowly missing the toolbox right below. His brownish-green eyes glances over to the figure skater, seemingly understanding and sharing her concerns. "Her doubts makes sense when you literally hurled a blade at a police officer. It's not that I don't trust you, but isn't that a bit dangerous and suspicious of you to have that kind of weapon on you? I wouldn't be surprised if there were other lethal carry ons."_

 _At the last statement, September stares at the kunoichi sitting in front of them, eying her black outfit. With Hitome's attention directing towards Kotarou and Akira, the map producer begins studying the fabric in remembrance of the event that happened back in the recreation room. They think to themselves in their head. "Where could she possibly stash those darts on herself so easily?" The French mapmaker then shakes their head to snap out of their inner thoughts. They go to suggest, "If it puts everyone at ease, I'll accompany Inu in the search."_

 _"Off you go, then!" Shiori dismisses the cartographer and kunoichi with a wave of a pale hand._

 _The pair prepare to leave the area as they stand from their seats but not without the officer interjecting first. "Wait, did you guys come up with anything useful?"_

 _"Ooooh, we came across this oozing, metal contraption with many buttons and pretty colors! It was so cold and made Inukai-chan's brain frozen, but it tasted like matcha tea in tiny ice!" Hitome promotes the discovery in her own words, causing the group to pause their thoughts in order to process the information._

 _"She's talking about the slushy machine we found in the convenience store." September further explains, "Unfortunately, we came up with le rien. We just covered the convenience store and recreation room over at the East Wing."_

 _"Hmm okay, well thank you for trying! We'll brief you guys on the rest of the findings later." Akira dismisses the pair after numerous nods reflect across the table in agreement. Hitome Inukai and September Simon exit the cafeteria, leaving their seats empty. After standing this whole time, Kotarou and Kuzuri decide to take the two newly, vacant seats at the left end of the table. The electrician sits next to Setsuka, while the beta tester takes the opposing seat adjacent to Etano._

 _As the last person physically standing, Nakai crosses his arms. The tea brewer seems perfectly unbothered as he nonchalantly shrugs. "Who needs a lousy seat, when I was always meant to be at the center of the tables anyways?"_

 _Brushing off his comment and stealing the spotlight for the moment, Kjartan softly chuckles, "Quite frankly, I'm surprised that my dear, Akira hasn't tried arresting Inu for that stunt she pulled. I mean, that would have made great entertainment!"_

 _The officer in turn simply lets out a huff. "Under normal circumstances, I would've taken her down to the station for attempted murder, but clearly this isn't a normal situation."_

 _"Actually, that brings me back to an earlier point that Shiori mentioned." The Canadian ball player brushes off a couple of wrinkles out of his orange basketball shorts as Santiago speaks up. "What are we going to do with the blonde newbie in the infirmary?"_

 _Santiago answers first. "I say for the sake of everyone, we should be careful and cautious around her. Who knows what she could be capable of?"_

 _On the other hand, Effie seems to disagree, "Um, the girl's barely alive right now. I highly doubt she can do anything while stuck in that infirmary bed."_

 _"I agree with my girl, Effie-chan! The new girl hasn't done anything bad, so we should at least give her a chance." Sayomi voices out her support as she flicks a bit of her blonde hair over the shoulder in the process._

 _Crystelle's eyes snap over towards the two celebrities with a question to follow. "What makes you so sure that she isn't going to try anything once or if she heals?" The French classical musician continues her argument. "She came from that damned bear, so that has to mean something, right?"_

 _Shiori butts into the conversation with a blunt input, "Or...if someone is really that pathetically desperate to leave, maybe she wouldn't have the time to actually heal."_

 _Etano looks downward at the small violinist with a puzzling look before asking, "What do you mean?"_

 _Crystelle, Effie, Kjartan, Kuzuri, Nakai, and Setsuka stare at Shiori with a matching, baffling expression written across their features. Meanwhile, Akira, Ayano, Kotarou, and Santiago appear to have caught onto what the violinist is implying. Their faces immediately break into one filling with concern on a certain, potential future possibility. The English electrician becomes the person to break the ice for them. "Shiori's insinuating that one of us should kill the new girl while she's incapacitated in the infirmary."_

 _The Youtaite questions, "You honestly believe that one of us would actually kill another person?"_

 _"You know fully well that we can't simply rule that possibility out, especially after we got the stupid motive." Santiago stops before his brown eyes narrow as a thought came to mind. "Following that logic, how am I supposed to trust any of you? Based off that motive, I'm sure everyone was affected by it."_

 _"He has a point. Everybody would be lying if they said that the thought hasn't crossed their minds, like let's be real, guys. You wouldn't be human if you wouldn't consider killing someone just to protect your loved ones." Setsuka comments. "Well, that's just assuming you value your family."_

 _Kuzuri responds, "That's pretty shitty and fucked up. She should at least be able to fight back if anything."_

 _"Guys, are we really debating over this?" Akira's voice drops to disbelief before it spikes back up to a commanding one. She stands up from her seat before slamming both hands onto the table. A loud echo occurs, emphasising the officer's next command, "We are going to handle this like a civil jury in during a trial hearing a case. Until she has a chance to tell her side of the story, nobody will lay a single hand on her. Do I make myself clear?"_

 _"Affirmative, it would be wise of us to attempt to obtain as much information we can from the girl." Ayano comments before pushing up her glasses back onto the ridge of her nose. "She may potentially be the key to assisting us in our escape from this aircraft since she is related to Monokuma."_

 _The police officer nods in agreement. "Precisely."_

* * *

Stepping out of the shower, the dripping wet officer snatches a white towel hanging off the rack to dry herself with. She then goes to put on a fresh dark-blue, police uniform. The girl still wonders how Monokuma managed to find and import five matching sets of the complete outfit. The officer mutters, "Maybe there's a laundromat on the plane or at least stop by one."

After brushing her hair and checking herself in the mirror just to make sure she looks decent, Akira begins to head out the door. She stops in her tracks and turns around to spot her signature police hat sitting on top of the e-Passport on the shelf. Debating on whether or not to carry the two items, Akira ends up slightly shaking her head as she thinks to herself. "Nah, I won't need those right now, it'll be a quick trip."

The officer exits her suite and walks over to the computer lab where she previously made plans to meet up with Kuzari Inanime. Basing off the information that Ayano, Crystelle, and Shiori provided during the meeting, Akira hopes that her and the beta tester could pull up any kind of data that could prove to be useful in the future. She figures that they might as well give it a shot. The dark-haired, beta tester covering his head with the hood of his black hoodie, greets her upon hearing the door open from her entering. "Sup Officer Nakashima? Welcome to the party!"

...He's the only other person in the room.

Akira plays along with a hint of sarcasm lacing within her voice. "Wow, might have to call the cops before it gets too wild up in here."

"I know right?" He smiles at the officer, evidently showing off the lower left, two rings attaching to the bottom lip. Taking his eyes off the computer's screen, Kuzuri turns his attention to the girl, who has taken the seat next to him. From receiving the front view of him, the programmer's matching green eyes were the only salient feature peering from under the hood's shadow tinting his tan face. He briefly eyes the officer's clean appearance before stating, "I take it that you're not a sweaty mess anymore?"

Akira chuckles, "Officer Fresh and Clean reporting for duty!" She does a fake salute which causes the guy to roll his eyes before laughing along. She adds, "I suppose that's the only downside to working out."

The taller of the two simply says, "Can't relate."

Akira replies, "You don't sweat after working out? I find that physically hard to believe."

He shakes his head. "No, I don't sweat when I don't exercise. Working out is disgusting, like I'll take a perfectly fine computer lab with air conditioning over being willingly sweaty as balls being dragged across the Sahara Desert."

"That's...thanks for the mental image." The officer pauses as she remembers the main reason why she's there in the first place. "Oh, speaking of the lab, how's it going with finding a loophole around the no hacking regulation?"

This earns a deep sigh out of the beta tester. "The progress is stuck at fucking zero. I'm not the SHSL Hacker, so I can't bypass any of the firewalls. I've tried researching Monokuma on the internet but apparently anything relating to him has been blocked?"

"I'm surprised we even have wifi on the plane." Akira taps her chin with the right index finger as a thought comes to mind. "Hmm, have you tried searching through the Dark Web?"

Kuzuri's mouth gapes open as he gawks, "You, _a police officer_ , actually want to browse the Dark Web?"

Akira leans back in the black plastic chair, crossing her arms as she stares at the lit computer monitor in front of the pair. The digital page exhibits a pure, blank white screen with the exception of a pixelated Monokuma wearing a typical flight attendant outfit while dancing in the center. In an endless loop, Monokuma blocks the webpage viewer by two-stepping to the left direction before two-stepping back to the starting position while waggling a paw within the silent ongoing rhythm. A speech bubble appearing next to his head tauntingly repeats, "No, no, no!"

"Unless you would like to save that lovely image as the desktop's background…" she gestures to the screen. "Then I suggest we try out the Dark Web since it tends to consist of information over illegal stuff, which definitely fits Monokuma."

"Isn't it illegal to go on there?"

Akira shakes her head. "Well, it's not illegal to browse the Dark Web unless you're looking at sites that host illegal content like child pornography or human trafficking, for instance." The officer narrows her eyes before continuing in a slightly harsh tone. "Which we are certainly not doing! Unless, of course you're asking for your manhood to get punched by a cactus."

The beta tester begins typing along the white-keyboard, hastily bypassing web pages as he replies, "Why do I have a mind fucking feeling that came from personal experience?"

Tracing the golden badge embedding into the royal-blue, blouse with a thumb, the officer simply answers, "I've done a couple of arrests regarding active Dark Web users within Hiroshima. Let's just say that whenever we catch them in the act, it wasn't exactly a pretty sight if they resisted arrest." Upon noticing the cease of clicking and typing from her tech-savvy partner, Akira glances back onto the computer's monitor to check his progress. She becomes amused at the sight of a familiar search engine logo, Deep Search spread across on the screen. The officer looks at Kuzuri as he leans back in his chair to wipe imaginary sweat off his forehead. "Wow, okay, do I even want to know how you managed to access this so quick?"

In response, the beta tester pushes the hood off his head to reveal the unhidden, mini-black ahoge once again. "Ever heard of 'Welcome to the Game'? It's based off the Dark Web and the developers asked me to be their beta tester to-y'know check it out for glitches and little shits and whatnot. They also wanted my opinion on how to make it seem more realistic, so this guy right here-" he points to himself, "-received a bonus pay after doing some in-depth research about the Dark Web and helped them out."

He then types in the name, _Monokuma_ in the search bar and then proceeds to tap the enter key. As the page loads, Akira faces Kuzuri with a small smile. "You know, Inanime-san, once we get out of here, with your abilities you could be really helpful with the law enforcement, especially with the police scanners and drones. A lot could change if we had higher quality technology from the tech department being able to spot and fix the issues with our gadgets." She places a hand against her head in painful remembrance. "Seriously though, you have no idea how many times I've been electrocuted by a faulty body-camera."

The lip-pierced, beta tester chuckles as he shakes his head. Kuzuri politely declines the officer's proposition. "Thanks for the offer, but I would prefer testing out for the virtual worlds and not the real one." After the screen finally loads, only one link appears from the search results. "You have got to be fucking kidding me. Out of the whole damn Dark Web, there's only one thing about that sadistic asshole?"

"One thing is better than nothing. Let's just click on it and see what it can tell us."

Following the solid sound of a single mouse click, the webpage transitions into a standard Wikipedia page. Filling the white screen is black text containing information about the robotic bear. In the left margin is a picture of a factory in the progress of creating Monokumas, identical to the one currently terrorizing the passengers. At the first glimpse, the tall, black to white gradient cylinders barring both sides of the gray conveyor belt, grabs a piece of the beta tester's memory. With Kuzuri focusing on the image, Akira busies herself with studying the text. Before she gets a chance to read the third overall sentence, the screen suddenly erupts into static that flashes a scattering pattern of black and white across the page. A brief moment passes before the computer monitor resets itself to its previous state, only with a dancing Flight Attendant Monokuma in place of the Wikipedia page. The officer lets out a loud groan of frustration. "Damn, I only got three sentences in."

Meanwhile, the beta tester slams a fist onto the table, nearly avoiding the keyboard in the process. He angrily curses, "God fucking dammit! My bitchass eyes only saw the fucking picture. I know that I know the place but can't remember the damn name."

Akira's head perks up from clearly recalling a certain detail. "I think I can help you out with that. Does the name, _Towa City_ ring a bell?"

Upon hearing the name, it triggers the beta tester's memory, causing him to clap before clasping both hands on the girl's shoulders. "Holy fucking hell, that's it! That's one of Towa City's factories! That's why it looked so familiar, because I used to test out their virtual reality headsets. Towa City is one of the most technologically advanced places in the world."

After processing this short burst of information, the officer comes to a conclusion. "That explains why Monokuma seems more advanced than your normal toy or robot. Although, if he was made in a factory which does mass production, that has to mean there's more than one of him. In that case, breaking the first flight regulation would be for nothing if another one would just pop up in his place…"

"Were you really thinking of breaking that rule?"

She nonchalantly shrugs. "I would be lying if I said that the thought hasn't crossed my mind, but some of the others might still be thinking that he's bluffing. We should warn everyone before someone does something stupid."

"Good idea, let's go." As Akira and Kuzuri were about to pull away from the computer, the beta tester spots something on the screen. "Correct my ass if I'm wrong, but was that timer always there?"

"A timer?" The officer checks the screen to notice a daunting, red digital-clock above the Monokuma blocker, counting down from ten seconds. Akira's eyes widen when they dart to the bottom right of the screen, swiftly confirming a haunting suspicion. She immediately stands from her seat and starts backing away, preparing to sprint out of the lab. The girl begins repeating to herself, "Oh no, oh no, not again!"

As the timer rolls by five seconds, the beta tester looks at his friend with concern from his seat. "Nakashima, what's wrong?"

"Don't you remember? It's the-"

Once the timer reaches zero, an all too familiar shrill laugh echoes throughout the electronic screens in the aircraft.

"Phuhuhuhu, you know what time it is kiddos! Since every passenger is still breathin' and kickin', it's time for another round of inspiration!"

* * *

 **Hey guys! And, sooo finally here's the complete version of this update! It's been a good almost 4 months? Hopefully this kinda lengthy update made the wait worth it! During that time, basically what happened is that I got side-tracked with distractions (AKA: life + starting and finishing Persona 5 & Uncharted Series) with a bit of laziness involved but I finally solved that problem too! Idk if this tip only applies to me (Since I get distracted easily when writing anything, especially on the laptop, lol.) but what helped me with completing all my other updates was:**

 **Writing the whole update on paper before typing it up (it took 8 pages front & back for the second half of this update) & listening to any type of Epic Battle/Powerful/Badass/Fantasy music compilation on YouTube while writing, because that just makes you feel like writing an update is an epic motivational quest you just gotta finish!**

 **DRA: FCD: RECAP: This is another flashback chapter as Akira spends two of her FTEs with Setsuka and Kuzuri. We get an update about Ayumi's health along with Akira recalling the events that took place during the cafeteria meeting to discuss the groups' discoveries and learns about the group's feelings towards Ayumi's arrival. Tensions continue to rise between passengers with conflicting beliefs. Akira and Kuzuri also learn a bit of interesting information about Monokuma.**

 **QFFR: Would it be okay if I try to have a schedule of at least updating once or twice a month if it meant lengthy updates such as this one and the last one? I'm not sure if this would be considered as too long and that I should split it up for quicker updates or keep it as it is? Plus, there's the fact that I have a full time job that's starting in about 3 weeks, so I'm going to use the time I have now to keep working on updates so I could release them periodically even when I get busy!**

 **QOTC: As always, how'd you guys like the long awaited update in general? Also, I may or may not have dropped quite a bit of foreshadowing hints regarding this chapter and the future ones, any conspiracy theories as to what may happen?**

 **FCD Cast Art Shoutouts: Huge thanks and shoutout to the wonderful TheRoseShadow21, which took me a good awhile to realize she also took the time to draw Keefe and Setsuka back in February! My bad for the really late realization, but I still gotcha! Be sure to check out her other FCD art from the links in my profile!**

 **PSA: The poll for the FTEs for Chapter One has been closed and I have my answer. There's a new poll just for fun as to who you guys think will end up being the first victim? Oh they've already been chosen, I'm just curious to see how many would actually guess it because it'll be...interesting?**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this really, really, really long awaited lengthy-ish update with a bunch of passenger interactions and that everyone has a nice day/night wherever you are, catch you guys in the next update AKA the aftermath of the "inspiration" along with the second set of FTEs, conclusion of the cafeteria meeting, and a certain thing happening!**

 **P.S: I think it's safe to say that everyone is on the same level of petty when it came to the results of the first trial of NDRV3, like wow talk about major baiting from promotions!**

* * *

 _ **Translations for this update:**_

Mi medica - _My doctor_

Mi amico - _My friend_

Suona come un piano! - _Sounds like a plan!_

Ryuu-san - _Water dragon_

Stupide - _Stupid_

Hakutaku - _A beast which handed down knowledge on harmful spirits._

Hososhi - _A ritual exorcist._

Une folle - _Someone crazy_

 _Yuki-onna - Snow woman_


End file.
